YESSS!! We will be attending San Diego Comic Con next weekend because we are magical! We’ll be hanging out in the console gaming room (17AB) with that special someone…

Just so you don’t lost, here’s the map. Aren’t you excited?! You’ll be the first in the states to play Makoto!

Our girls are out and about! Don’t miss out on our lolitastic LE in stores today!

Deathsmiles LE

• Deathsmiles Faceplate featuring four cute angels trapped in a creepy gothic cage! This faceplate was never released in Japan, go us!
• Deathsmiles Premium Arrange Album! 15 spooky high energy tracks selected by Manabu Namki, Director of Deathsmiles!
• Deathsmiles horizontal artbox and game to compliment the shmup orientation!

Enter the world of Gilverado, a kingdom plagued by hideous monsters and tortured souls. Choose from four angels with unique demonic familiars and battle against a storm of enemies pouring out of Hell’s gates!  Fight your way out of tight spots as you are surrounded by enemy units and bullets from both sides of the screen. The unique left/right shooting mechanic of Deathsmiles will keep you on your toes as you dodge and weave through complex enemy fire, beautifully crafted by the modern masters of shmups, CAVE.

Triggering “Power-up mode” will unleash great streams of golden crowns, white tiaras, and grey skulls as you cut through enemies with your little Angel’s mighty magic shot.   Try not to get distracted by the bling as you collect these gorgeous trinkets en masse and pump your high score to the limit!

“Most shooters feature space ships heroically charging through bullet showers to kill some alien nuisance,” says Cherie Baker, PR Specialist. “With Deathsmiles, you’ve got little girls flying through a gothic otherworld to destroy the horrific, necrotic Imperator Tyrannosatan. Really what could top that!?”

Deathsmiles Key Features:

• Five Characters to Explore Gilverado

Choose Windia, the foppish English girl; Casper, the sassy German; Follett, the cautious French girl; or Rosa, the California valley girl or Sakura the faithful witch of the swamp wastes.” Travel down the roads of Gilverado and discover hidden conversations between the angels.

• Mega Black Label

Test your supernatural powers against the onslaught of the Ice Palace and its forgotten protector!   Put your skills to the test with a new scoring system that demands more, but pumps out even more explosions of shiny tokens!

• Choose Your Path and Difficulty

You can choose your own route through the game’s stages and set the difficulty for each, from a level of 1 to 3. These difficulty levels allow you to customize the bullet count and boss toughness. Watch out if you choose level 3 five times, though….

• Save and Play Back Replays

Save replays of your own games to watch later for your own enjoyment.

Players can also download the top 20 scoring runs on the leaderboards.

• Online Rankings & Online Co-op

• Check out your score on the online leaderboard, with rankings for each character and game mode. Two-player cooperative play is also available via: Xbox LIVE^® online entertainment network!

AVE, IMPERATOR, MORITURI TE SALUTANT

HAIL, EMPEROR, THOSE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE SALUTE YOU!

Torrance, CA (June 25th, 2010)– Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, proudly announces Gladiator Begins for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system!

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was the last of the “Five Good Emperors”. He was gifted with a brilliant mind, and his influence brought peace, both at home and abroad. However, as Marcus entered his final years, the question of succession was raised, and tempers flared. A secret feud flared up between the aristocrats and soldiers who supported Commodus, Marcus’s son, and those who supported General Cassius. The feud grew more desperate, and less secret, day by day. As Rome’s days of peace began to draw to a close, a new gladiator arrived at the Colosseum…

Ah yes, ancient Rome,” reminisces Ben Bateman, Localization Editor, Aksys Games, “A time when men were men, and women were also men, but in a different way! The way where they kill each other to entertain a citizenry desperate for bloodsport! In ‘Gladiator Begins’, we’ve endeavored to give the player a chance to experience this legendary period of excitement, adventure, and untimely death. But don’t worry—this is a video game, which means you will be meting out untimely death, rather than receiving it.”

“You may also rest assured that historical accuracy has been maintained,” Ben reassures. “Using a device obtained from the Before-Comers, and a race of alien beings as beautiful as they are powerful, we dispatched several of our testers to Rome in its heyday, and those that returned assured us that everything in the game was 100% accurate to every possible degree, and no more fact-checking was necessary. There is no more period-accurate gladiator fighting game on the PSP system. On that you have my solemn word.”

GLADIATOR BEGINS KEY FEATURES

• Fight for Glory and Freedom! Your Gladiator will face many trials in their fight for freedom. You’ll encounter slaves, nobles, gladiators and furious animals.

• Earn the respect of politicians and the love of the Romans! Gain a patron’s favor and experience unique story paths. There are 5 different patrons to give your allegiance to!

• Develop your own signature techniques Every Gladiator has their own personal flair! Master the art of combat with dual weapons, sword & shield, hand-to-hand and polearms. Learn new skills to entertain the crowd like Smash, Cyclone, Drop Kick and Wild Dance!

• Free DLC available on PlayStation®Network! Use in-game currency to purchase new weapons, armor and characters!

And don’t forget Gladiator Begins Demo is available on 7/13, so be ready! Rome awaits your victory!

Looking through the DSi Shop, trying to find a game before you connection fails, look no further! Don’t Cross The Line is available on DSi on Tuesday June 8th!

Connect lines from one shape to the other. Sounds easy enough, but add in more shapes, barrier obstacles, a clicking clock and oh yeah, you can’t cross the lines, then you got yourself one mean puzzle game! 50 brain teasing levels to keep you entertained on your long commute, during boring school lectures, or that visit to the girlfriend’s house. Download the game for only 200 Wii points!

BIT.TRIP RUNNER marks the first fully-character-based adventure for Commander Video with:

• Rhythm-based Action Platforming!
• Boss Battles Against Robotic Terrors!
• 50+ Challenges!
• Classic NES-Style Controls!
• A Pounding Chiptune-Inspired Soundtrack!
• Special Chiptune Guest Star Anamanaguchi!
• New Friends for Commander Video!

BIT.TRIP RUNNER is coming to the WiiWare Service on 5/17/2010!

So get some Wii Points and great ready for the awesomeness! And if you’re wondering about the picture, we have one more Commander Video Lego Dude left… I wonder…perhaps we’ll give it away.

Grab your protein shake, speedos and body oil! Cho Aniki Zero is out on PSN , shake that BOOM BOOM and buy it!

(We found out recently that ‘boom-boom’ means ‘booty’ in Brazilian *please check out our Facebook for the whole story*)

Torrance, CA (April 1st, 2010) – Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, proudly brings you this announcement, in exaltation of all that is manly, ships to retailers nationwide! Cho Aniki Zero will be oiled up and ready to thrust its way onto your PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system! Sold exclusively as a digital download through the PlayStation®Store, Cho Aniki Zero gives players the chance to take part in an epic struggle alongside heroes Idaten and Benten as they blast through the muscle-bounded forces of Emperor Balzac II.

Cho Aniki Zero brings manliness back to the old-school shoot-em-up genre and, warps it to another dimension of sights and sounds. In Cho Aniki Zero, players will be introduced to brand-new characters and newly heightened experiences of rhythmic action, intertwined with the famous BGM of Kouji Hayama. Battle through five man-rageous levels of brotherly love and muscle-on-muscle madness!

The Story So Far…

Since the death of Balzac, the Builder Planet has celebrated a long period of peace.

However, as time goes by, protein becomes scarce, and protein deficiency is soon a serious problem for the Builder Planet. As people struggle for control over what protein is left, Balzac II begins his subtle rise to power…

Learning of his return, Idaten and Benten take up arms and begin their man-tastic voyage…

“People have been raving about the benefits of protein since time immemorial and now Cho Aniki Zero reaffirms that belief!”, said Frank “Bo” deWindt II, Associate Producer, Aksys Games. “It’s time to get those muscles pumping and downing those protein shakes because you’ll need them after the hilariously fun workout that is Cho Aniki Zero!”

Key Features:

• MUSCLE REIGNS SUPREME
Choose between Idaten and Benten, then select your “Option” (sidekick) such as Samson, Adon, or Micha & El. Defeat Emperor Balzac before he claims the universe’s protein for himself!
• MEN’S BEEEEEEEAM!
Too much man-action on the screen? Collect enough Man Protein to unleash the devastating attack of the Men’s Beam!

• IT’S RAINING MEN!
Blaze through five man-mazing levels of love, and bear witness to the birth and rebirth of some of the greatest bromances of all time!
• CHOOSE WISELY…
Cho Aniki Zero offers multiple paths that leads to various endings for our muscle-bound heroes!

Earlier today we announced the Limited Edition for Deathsmiles, but are now proud to announce our latest offering… The BDSM ÜBER EDITION for just $299.99!

DEATHSMILES BDSM ÜBER EDITION INCLUDES

• Weird Japanese Men’s Pseudo Panty / Boxer Briefs - Riiight…
• Replica Wyndia Angel Wings - Be the life of the party at the next rave and pretend you can fly with these awesome wings that you strap to your back.
• Replica Rosa Whip - Beat your lovers into submission after an intense game of Deathsmiles.
• Replica Rosa Collar - Get your significant under control with this handy choker.
• Needlessly Oversized Box shaped like a Coffin - Because we don’t want you putting your game on your shelves at home.

APRIL FOOLS!

…Rebel 1… FIGHT!

The ground-breaking High Definition 2D fighter BlazBlue makes its triumphant return to home consoles!

Get your ticket to Kagutsuchi, ‘cause the hype train is coming!

Torrance, CA (March 19th, 2010) – Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, proudly announces BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, coming summer 2010! BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was recently a top-4 finalist in the VGA Awards, and Aksys Games is proud to announce that we will be bringing the arcade sequel to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system from Sony!

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift inherits all the key features of its predecessor while adding a few twists of its own. Tsubaki, μ-12 and Hazama will join the ranks of the veterans, who will be reborn with additional moves added to their arsenals. With new modes like Beginner Mode and Tutorial Mode, even fighting game beginners can pull off combos like the pros and dive right into the action.

Full Press Release, Screenshots and Trailer after the jump.

“If you’re not on the hype train this time, you’re missing out on the latest, greatest 2D game from Arc”, exclaims Gail Salamanca, Marketing Director at Aksys Games. “GET HYPE, CHOO CHOO!”

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Key Features:

• New Modes, including Beginner Mode, Tutorial Mode and Challenge Mode!

  Beginner Mode welcomes a wider audience with an easier control scheme; anyone can jump right in and play! Tutorial Mode allows novices and pros to practice everything from the basic mechanics unique to BlazBlue to the most complicated and powerful combos. Challenge Mode offers advanced players a chance to complete character-specific combo goals and missions.

• Take over Kagutsuchi by creating your own army in Legion Mode!

  Defeat the enemy armies positioned at various locations on the map. The ultimate goal is to fill the entire map with your color by defeating all the enemy armies. Recruit enemy soldiers by defeating them!

• Brand new characters, stages, soundtracks and moves!

  Welcome Hazama the mysterious mastermind, Tsubaki the valiant female knight and μ-12 to the world of BlazBlue!

  Three-dimensional effects and 2D visuals integrate seamlessly on every one of four completely new stages, accompanied by seven banging new songs written by famed composer Diasuke Ishiwatari specifically for Continuum Shift!

• Online battling domestically and overseas!

  Players can battle others from around the world via Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network. Players can not only search for matches, play games and observe matches online; they can also chat with friends while playing.

About Aksys Games Inc.

Located in Torrance, California and founded in 2006, Aksys Games is well-known for being a visionary within the fighting game sector while expanding into other genres such as RPGs, fishing and family-style games. Some of their more popular games include the BlazBlue, Battle Fantasia, Hooked: Real Motion Fishing, and the Bit.Trip series.

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift has not yet been rated by the ESRB. More information about Aksys Games and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift can be found at www.aksysgames.com.

That’s right, Kunio & Gang are back to kick butt in their two new DS titles, River City Soccer Hooligans and River City Super Sports Challenge!

Torrance, CA (February 17, 2010) – Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, welcomes back Japan’s cute delinquent high-schoolers in two new games on Nintendo DS™: River City Soccer Hooligans and River City Super Sports Challenge. After-school sports will never be the same.

“There is only one word to describe River City Soccer Hooligans: GOOOOAAAAAAAAAL!”, states Frank “Bo” deWindt II, Associate Producer, Aksys Games. “Soccer fused with crazy weather conditions and super-shot attacks aplenty create an amazing Kunio experience!”

Join Kunio and the gang in River City Soccer Hooligans as they go head to head with the world’s soccer elite to win the World Soccer Championship! Shoot, pass, and attack the competition!

River City Soccer Hooligans Key Features:

• The world can have only one champion! Join the River City League!

Challenge the world’s best soccer teams! Select your matches from 12 opposing teams from around the world. As Captain Kunio, you can strategize by changing your formations, checking weather forecasts, talking to your teammates, and giving them special items to boost their performance!

• Can’t become world’s best without practice!

Practice mode allows the player to improve their techniques by customizing the conditions. Select your stage, field, and weather conditions. Two-on-Two play lets the player focus on the striker of their choice. Perform special sets of moves like the Drill Attack, Tornado Kick, Explosive Attack, and Super Head Shot.

• On a mission to kick butt and take names!

Unlock 50 unique items for your teammates by fulfilling conditions during matches in Normal and Hard mode! Check out your collection and choose which teammate to give items to for stat boosts.

• Battle against up to 4 players through DS

Play either an Opponent Match (2 vs. 2) or a PK Match (Penalty Kick) with friends or against the CPU.

River City’s extracurricular activities just got EXTREME! High schools from far and wide assemble their hooligans to complete against the mysterious Tobioka Conglomerate in the Super Sports Challenge. Brawl your way through the toughest rival schools around and show’em who’s the boss!

”River City Super Sports Challenge combines the thrill of athletic competition with the fun of beat-em-up action!” states Frank “Bo” deWindt II, Associate Producer, Aksys Games. “Fans of the Kunio series and newcomers alike won’t be able to put this down, even while working out!”

River City Super Sports Challenge Key Features:

• Fight to the finish!

Complete in races against the toughest hard-knock schools in River City. Six school teams to choose from, each with six unique teammates wielding crazy fighting moves like Human Bomb, Pizza Shot, and Mach Strike!

• Test your Skills in Challenge Mode

Complete missions and develop your martial skills. Collect customization options for your team, such as hairstyles, hair colors, face models, and complexion in Edit Character Mode. Edit your team’s stats by adjusting their stamina, punching, and kicking, and weapon skills.

• Throw Down!

Play any of the races in this Free Battle mode! Play against the CPU or up to 4 players through Download Battle. Choose your favorite team, stage, and race order.

This web site, in fact. The domain name is ours, and the timid child of the internet is the official Record of Agarest War web site. As you can see, should you choose to visit it, we have plans to update it with yet more content, so I recommend you check back frequently. If there’s anything in particular you’d like to see on there, by all means, let us know. I have also taken the liberty of creating a forum section specifically for Agarest. Feel free to use it to discuss the game, ask questions, etc. We are always watching, and will do our best to answer any questions you may have. You can also find a collection of screenshots here, although these will eventually be available on the official site as well.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BECOME A WORLD CHAMPION!

Play portable pool with over 60 world’s top player in World Cup of Pool for the Nintendo DS.

Torrance, CA (February 11, 2010) Aksys Games, a leading publisher of interactive entertainment products, is proud to announce that World Cup of Pool will be challenging everyone on the Nintendo DS today! When you want to be the best you have to beat the best. This means taking on and defeating Earl “the Pearl” Strickland, Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Ronnie O’Sullivan and current World Champion Daryll Peach – and that’s just what you can do in World Cup of Pool!

“World Cup of Pool for the Nintendo DS is the only billiards game on the Nintendo DS that represents the largest contingent of pro players from around the world,” said Frank “Bo” deWindt, Project Lead, Aksys Games. “At Aksys Games we’re continually growing and expanding our library of games and World Cup of Pool is one of the many games for 2010 that will help keep us breaking new ground.”

Featuring 60 of the world’s top players – with over 15 Pool and Snooker world titles between them – prove you’re a winner at 8-ball & 9-ball and claim the ultimate prize in any sport – the World Cup. If you fancy an alternative challenge, have a go at playing “Killer” against the champions or a multiplayer game against your friends. World Cup of Pool for the Nintendo DS distills this, the definitive pool experience, into a convenient, hand-held form.

World Cup of Pool Key Features:

• Fully licensed with over 60 of the best players from around the world.

• The top screen displays the whole table – use the touch screen for close action shots.

• Unique Hall of Fame trophy room to track your career.

BlazBlue comes to 0D Beat Drop! It’s the collaboration of your dreams! This first DLC pack contains new skins and music for three of BlazBlue’s lovely ladies: Noel, Nu and Tsubaki. When you purchase this DLC, a new [Planet Quest +] option will be added to the [Single Player Game] menu, where you can play with the new skins and music. This DLC also adds a new DLC-only leaderboard!

The full game is available for 800 MS points and the BlazBlue pack is available today for 320 MS points.

Above ripped straight from Xbox.com’s description.

Well we got our ESRB and it’s Teen, yay! Just for reminders, as you can see from the boxart, the first run of Mimana will have a CD soundtrack plus voice mail messages from the main characters!

Deathsmiles, the bullet-hell smash hit, comes to the U.S on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Torrance, CA (January 18, 2010) – Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, announces the gothic-lolita shmup hit that took Japan by storm, Deathsmiles, for  the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Enter the world of Gilverado, a kingdom plagued by hideous monsters and tortured souls. Choose from four angels with unique demonic familiars and battle against a storm of enemies pouring out of Hell’s gates!  Fight your way out of tight spots as you are surrounded by enemy units and bullets from both sides of the screen. The unique left/right shooting mechanic of Deathsmiles will keep you on your toes as you dodge and weave through complex enemy fire, beautifully crafted by the modern masters of shmups, CAVE.

Triggering “Power-up mode” will unleash great streams of golden crowns, white tiaras, and grey skulls as you cut through enemies with your little angel’s mighty magic shot.   Try not to get distracted by the bling as you collect these gorgeous trinkets en masse and pump your high score to the limit!

“Most shooters feature space ships heroically charging through bullet showers to kill some alien nuisance,” says Cherie Baker, PR Specialist. “With Deathsmiles, you’ve got little girls flying through a gothic otherworld to destroy the horrific, necrotic Imperator Tyrannosatan. Really, what could top that!?”

Deathsmiles Key Features:

• Five Characters to Explore Gilverado

  Choose Windia, the foppish English girl; Casper, the sassy German; Follett, the cautious French girl; Rosa, the California valley girl; or Sakura the faithful witch of the swamp wastes. Travel down the roads of Gilverado and discover hidden conversations between the angels.

• Mega Black Label

  Test your supernatural powers against the onslaught of the Ice Palace and its forgotten protector!   Put your skills to the test with a new scoring system that demands more, but pumps out even more explosions of shiny tokens!

• Choose Your Path and Difficulty

  You can choose your own route through the game’s stages and set the difficulty for each, from a level of 1 to 3. These difficulty levels allow you to customize the bullet count and boss toughness. Watch out if you choose level 3 five times, though…

• Save and Play Back Replays

  Save replays of your own games to watch later for your own enjoyment. Players can also download the top 20 scoring runs on the leaderboard.

• Online Rankings & Online Co-op

  Check out your score on the online leaderboard, with rankings for each character and game mode. Two-player cooperative play is also available via: Xbox LIVE^® online entertainment network!

The Wheel of Fate is Turning…

All of your favorite BlazBlue characters in the palm of your hand!

On PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) System and PlayStation®Store

Torrance, CA (January 15th, 2010) – Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, proudly announces Blazblue Portable, coming March 2010! The console version of BlazBlue was recently a top-4 finalist for the VGA Awards, and Aksys Games is proud to announce we will be bringing an updated version to the PSP system and PlayStation®Store.

This game is the ultimate 2D fighting game on the go! BlazBlue features all of the console modes—Arcade, Versus, Score Attack, Training, and Story…in addition to the all-new Shop and Legion modes, where you control your own party of fighters in an attempt to conquer the world of BlazBlue.

“Every frame of animation and hit box is painstakingly replicated from the original game, so all of your combos work without a hitch. It’s really nice when you need your BB fix on the go,” says Michael Manzanares, Project Lead. “And new Unlimited versions of your favorite characters don’t hurt, either.”

Blazblue Portable Key Features:

• Twelve unique combatants to choose from, which now include Unlimited versions for all characters!Choose a character that represents your own fighting style, like the lightning-fast Taokaka or the wickedly powerful Tager.
• Drive your way to victory!Use the unique “Drive Attacks” specific to each character to decimate your opponent.Control the elements, like wind or ice, or even absorb the life-force of your opponents.
• Multiplayer battles via Ad-Hoc ModeBattle with up to four players in a single room and play with custom rule sets.Two people will fight each other at a time while the others spectate.
• Legion ModeBuild your army and conquer the map! Have up to 20 members join your party.
• Shop ModeUse in-game currency to purchase illustrations and Unlimited characters.

Mimana Iyar Chronicle will include a soundtrack CD plus 7 character voice mails for your mobile phone! This amazing offer is for first-run copies only, so hurry today and reserve your copy!

And the name of forth BIT.TRIP title is BIT.TRIP RUNNER~! @Benoit Robert Raniere, guessed it first on the BIT.TRIP Facebook page! He’ll be getting his initials in the high scores for this game. Now the name kinda gives some things away about the gameplay. Screens are coming!

A Fighting Game of RPG-Sized Proportions!

Battle Fantasia makes it in time for the holidays on the PlayStation®Network

Torrance, CA (December 22, 2009) – Aksys Games, a leading publisher of interactive entertainment products, announced that Battle Fantasia will be battling its way onto the Sony PlayStation®Store today for $19.99.

“Battle Fantasia helps bring the fighting genre to the mainstream with its RPG-style appeal,” said Frank “Bo” deWindt II, Project Lead, Aksys Games. “If the fighting aspects don’t hook you, the quirky characters and their stories will.”

Full PR after the jump.

Battle Fantasia Key Features:

• Gorgeous Cel-shaded Graphics
  Experience Battle Fantasia’s amazing art and graphics as you play through the game!

• Exclusive Console Story Mode
  Play through each character’s main scenario in “Story Mode”, or discover hidden sub-scenarios to truly immerse yourself in the universe of Battle Fantasia!

• Exciting Online Play
  Fight against opponents from far and wide, or view your overall online rankings via PlayStation®Network!

• Feel the Burn of “Heat Up” and the Sting of “GACHI”
  Master the Battle Fantasia-exclusive battle mechanics of “Heat Up” mode, “GACHI Match”, and “GACHI Drive” to keep your opponents on their toes!

• Find Every Unlockable!
  With over 80 unlockable illustrations in “Gallery Mode” and various Playstation Trophies, you’ll find yourself playing for hours on end!

Battle Fantasia has been rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. More information about Aksys Games and Battle Fantasia can be found at www.aksysgames.com.

The latest game in the Bit.Trip series, Void has been released on WiiWare today! Get it now for only 600 Wii Points!

UPDATED: IGN just posted their review… A solid 8! http://wii.ign.com/articles/104/1049212p1.html Go steal your parent’s credit cards kids and plug it into your Wii! (Ed’s note: He doesn’t really mean that. Stealing is bad. Very bad.)

Yes, that’s right people… Spike TV chose BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger as one of the nominees for Fighting Game of the Year. Now, here’s your chance to make it win. Cast your vote over at http://www.spike.com/event/vga2009/page/vote/category/34730 and we just might have a chance to win.