The BlazBlue DLC is now available for the PS3! What are you still doing here? Start downloading!

Want some insight into the madness behind the characters in BlazBlue?  Then, check out GamesRadar.com’s BlazBlue Character Blowout and Interview!

As I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear, our official BlazBlue site has finally opened, and you can find it here: http://www.aksysgames.com/blazblue/.  It’s got character profiles, information on game controls and mechanics, and plenty more. Plus, we’ve got plans to add even more stuff! So check it out, have some fun, and stay tuned for more sweet BB stuff that’s sure to keep you pumped right up until the game’s release.

We’ve got some special announcements for all the people of the Aksys Nation. Firstly, the Character Designer for Battle Fantasia, Ms. Emiko Iwasaki, graces us with some answers to some interesting questions. Also, we announce the winner of the “Most Awesome Word” contest, as well as announce a new contest, one that we surely won’t regret, and I came up with a new censoring scheme. Plus, Aksys wants YOU on the Street Team! Find out how to join by listening to this podcast.

Welcome to Aksys Nation Podcast #15

• Gail
• Harry
• Bo
• Noba
• Aaron

News

• BB console has been announced! Are you excited? We are.
• Bit.Trip Beat released on Wii Shop Channel!
• Interview with Emiko Iwasaki, Character Designer for Battle Fantasia

Mailbag

• Nobafan 87
• Jason
• Terranrox
• The Pretender

Contests and Reminders

• In Podcast #13: Win a Podcast Edition we had a contest for who could come up with the coolest word and we’ve narrowed it down to the following:
  • Apophenia – Seeing patterns where there are none
  • Slattern – Whore
  • Vainglorious – Boastful
  • Slattern is the winner, and that gets someone a BlazBlue poster!
• “A writing contest is also nice where the subscribers could write a creative story using the aksys crew as characters while using a list of words they MUST use.”
• Thanks for this interesting contest Terranrox! You win a Calamity Pack! Here are the words everyone MUST use:
  • Commander Video
  • Harry
  • Noba
  • Gail
  • Aaron
  • Bo
  • Mary and Chris (Must be used together exactly like this)
  • Apophenia
  • Slattern
  • Vainglorious
• You get until the podcast after next to submit your entry, so get on that! Send entries to podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com with the subject line “Aksys Author Contest.”

Street Team

• 1st mission for the Street Team: We give you a picture of Commander Video. You go and leave it somewhere in the world and take a photo of it. Send it to us and you get access to the Street Team. Once you’ve emailed us proof that you have completed the mission you’ll be given special access to the Street Team section of the website where you can blog your mission results and share your pictures with other street teamers.
• Must be 18 or older to enter. If you’re about to turn 18, don’t worry, this mission will be ongoing and there will be other opportunities.
• Send all applications to streetteam(at)aksysgames(dot)com.

Closing Comments & Thank Yous

• Special note from Aaron: If you want to friend me on Steam or something and would like to play sometime, I’m all down for that, but please tell me who you are or else I’ll most likely ignore you. Even if it’s a message saying “Hey, I’m a fan of Aksys/the podcast, let’s play sometime”, that’s fine. There’s plenty of Aaron to go around.
• Don’t forget to send questions/comments to podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com and review us on iTunes!

Its been awhile since we did one of these, but since we at Aksys Games love our fans so much, here’s some love for the weekend. If you haven’t heard, today we just announced the following three, that’s right, count ‘em, three, titles! And they are…

Family Pirate Party (WiiWare)
Yo ho, yo ho, Family Pirates, get ready to plunder some mighty booty in this outrageous board game Mario Party-style, but with add-on content (DLC)! Go download it when it’s out; it’s fun for the whole family!

Rockin’ Pretty (NDS)
Don’t let the title fool you–this music/rhythm game is a rockin’ good time for boys and girls. Choose the guitar, bass, drums, or keyboard and go to town with some hard-hitting rock music. Believe me when I say strumming in time with the music is a lot more challenging than you might think. This isn’t just some cutesty game for little girls. Even our Marketing Director loves this game, ain’t that right Kanedags? And for you anime fans out there, you’ll love the character design.

Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past (NDS)
And finally, the hidden jewel of this week’s announcement. All I have to say is, we heard all the feedback from our fans about our first Jake Hunter outing. I promise you, we took your words to heart, and made all possible improvements to make this sequel worth your money! In fact, we even included the three cases from the original Jake Hunter release, but with a heavily re-edited script.

There you have it folks, check them out, let us know what you think. You know we love hearing from you–doesn’t matter if they are good or bad remarks, we take on all challengers… So until then, I’ll see you guys next week for more Aksys Games awesomeness!

Welcome to this lovely edition of our newest podcast! We are joined by Alex Neuse, the man and the muscle behind Bit.Trip Beat. We ask him about his company, his game, his life, as well as cover finished contests and more!

Welcome to Podcast 10 (basically)

• Brought to you by:
  • Unicron, the eater of planets. He eats so you don’t have to.
  • Aaron’s Hemorrhoid Cream: Apply directly to forehead.
• Sorry for last week, no podcast. Clearly the cat’s fault.
• Any new news?

We Now Present THE Bit.Trip Beat Podcast

• Special Guest: Alex Neuse, the man behind the Bit.Trip Beat, joins us via internet phonecall.
• Questions for Alex:
  • Give us some background on Gaijin Games.
  • How did Bit.Trip come about?
  • Was that your first game idea?
• Chris, another tester, has joined the party.
• Speaking of which, whos in the podcast?
  • Aaron, Gail, Jared, Mike, and now Chris. (Sorry)
• More questions for Alex:
  • How did Commander Video come in to being? What is his quest?
  • The viral video. Explain. Will there be more?
  • How is the game progressing?
• So Chris, is the game actually fun?
• Jared’s important question.
• Gail comes clean about his initial impressions.
• Who are these people in the game? Learn more at gaijingames.com.
• Gail is now a believer.

And Now For Something Completely Different: Random Questions

• What is your secret weapon in luring the opposite sex? Mike Roush.
• What is your current desktop picture? Commander Video.
• What were your top 3 games that were released last year and that you played? Fallout 3…times 3.
• When I say ‘banana’ what do you think of? Mike Roush.
• Where were you last night? Mike Roush.
• Last alcoholic beverage you consumed? Some fancy red wine.
• A word you say a lot. Nurggit.
• Favorite Movie: Brazil.
• Choose one food to eat for the rest of your life: Mac & Cheese.
• Talk about the difference between Japanese games and American games.
• If you could ask a psychic one question, knowing it would be a true answer, what would you ask? “When are the aliens coming?”
• Favorite Song at the moment: It’s Amazing, by Gem.
• What did you have for lunch today? Potato Chips and Humus.
• If you could change anything about your looks, would you? Only if it’s more like Mike Roush. But mostly his ears.
• Are you ready/have a plan for the impending zombie apocolypse. Run over a rotating weapon on the ground and pick it up.
• That is it for Alex. Thanks man!

Mailbag Action

• Before that, Aaron bought some $8 jam. Mighty fine…jam. Baller Jam.
• Kosmos: less random, more info.
  • Tell us the content you want us to talk about. Jared and Chris are pro at GG2, btw.
  • You’re lucky we have an outline.
  • But if you’d like more random action, let us know!
• Monochrome Red: I’m gay for Aksys. Aksys: Super…
• Terran: I look forward to every podcast. Give us more info on GG/BB/etc. I want to see what you all look like.
  • Video podcast would be cool, but we need to get a little better at audio first…
  • Noba is holding the bag in the canvas bag picture because she’s more accessible… (?)
• Give us feedback/comments. podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com.
  • Cash Money Cosplay till NYCC. Cosplay as any Aksys character, take a photo, give it to us for a chance to win $100.
  • Street Team…it’s coming.
  • Where we will be: New York Comic Con, Anime Expo, Wizard World , San Diego Comic Con. If you want to help us out, email us at streetteam(at)aksysgames(dot)com.
  • First Review on iTunes contest: Matty125! Enjoy your calendar!
  • BB Calendar Comment Contest: St1ckBug! We’ll say your comment! Enjoy your calendar!

Contests!

Bye Bye!

Introduction

• Your host this week…Aaron. Everyone knows him, even if they don’t love him.

We’re not sick

• Well, Jared is. Merry Christmas.

What’s new?

• New Flash Header on the website. Now with buttons.
• We’ve been working on ?????
• Aaron has been playing Prince of Persia. Jared doesn’t like it.
• Jared doesn’t like that you can’t die. It’s too easy.
• It eliminates skill, and there’re no puzzles, unlike Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
• Aaron thinks that all recent Ubisoft games are part of something larger than him.
• Enough about other people’s games.

The fall of printed media

• It’s going out of style.
• Aaron gets free subscriptions for some reason… So does Harry.
• You can get up to date info on the internet…why get printed media? Quality bathroom reading.
• Print media relies on ads, but they don’t get them since the internet or TV has replaced that. People just don’t like them as much anymore.
• The Spanish version of EGM has tanked. Harry isn’t traveled enough to know.
• Even big newspapers are being hit hard.
• Roger Ebert is even talking about it.
• Gail feels that people like tabloids more than a good story.
• But we can get news, and get it right now.
• Harry wants to band together with other publishers to put an end to online.
• Jared has an idea: More story, more opinion.
• Harry wishes everyone luck.

Trouble in the game industry

• People are closing shop. It sucks.
• EA is doing layoffs. If we laid anyone off….
• Games are still doing well, just not as well.
• Jared didn’t like the new Call of Duty.
• Smaller companies are getting the boot while bigger companies are taking over.

The Game Debate

• Aaron – 3 classes of games: low class for low money, middle class for some money, and super awesome for tons of cash.
• Gail: ya, and then there was Hooked: Real Motion Fishing.
• Jared with the rebuttal.
• Surprise guest: Ben! Time for some more action. Case in point: Legendary.
• Big Budget Games = Big Budget Movies.
• Money does not always equal success.
• Valve takes forever to make things, but they’re wildly successful.
• Aaron wants to clarify.
• Jared: Artistic mediums are different than other industries.

Give Ben some Game Fuel!

• If you’re prepared for the zombie apocalypse, please give some to Ben since he needs it.
• All Aaron needs is a shotgun. Jared disagrees.
• Email us and tell us what you think: podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com.

PS3 Y/N

• Aaron: PS3 sucks and here is why.
• Jared: STFU and here is why.
• Gail: You won’t get the PS3 to be the PS2.
• Harry: Wii is on another level.
• Jared fights for the PS3. And thinks Metroid Prime 3 sucked.
• At what cost?
• Even Nintendo knows that you can’t release a big name Nintendo game at the same time as a different big game (Wii Music and Gears of War 2).
• PS3 is an investment, but when does it pay off?
• Xbox may be cheaper but it doesn’t come with a HDD. Ben: That won’t matter.
• Why do people by the PS3?
• Aaron: people buy the PS3 for gaming! Jared: You’re ridiculous!
• PS3 vs. 360. You decide. If you could only buy one…
• Yes, but what about cost?
• Gail: for some reason, things just look better on the 360.
• If you want better-looking games, buy the PC version.
• What about the Blu-Ray player? Are DVDs going out of style?
• Jared prepares to school Aaron on the Entertainment Market.
• But, how long?
• COUNTERARGUMENT TIME
• DVD vs. Blu-Ray

Playstation HOME

• No free stuff. You must pay for everything.
• Only thing at the movies: Twilight trailer…
• Gail claims he saw Indiana Jones.
• We’re disappointed.
• Also, if you want to play a virtual game, you have to wait in virtual line.
• And then there’s the ol’ “A/S/L?”
• Except for people like Aaron who make female avatars.
• HOME = Sims.
• So, HOME avatars, NXE avatars, or Miis?

Mailbag Time

• A Battle Fantasia Question. Special guest: Bo. Impressions.
• Bo likes it. Harry likes it. Send more questions to podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com.
• Eric wants to know some things about BlazBlue.
• Problems with the A button? Sounds like something wrong with the cabinet or something. Something like that…
• Invincible frames for Noel? Definitely.
• Tager impressions.
• Someone playing as Carl is pretty impressive…
• Send inquiries to podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com.

Harry’s Cash Money Cosplay Contest

• Till February, dress as any Aksys character and win Harry’s $$.
• Send all entries to podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com. Title it with “Cash Money Contest”. Put it anywhere.

Thanks for listening!
Please rate us on iTunes and send any inquiries to podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com.

In case you haven’t heard, or even if you have heard, this is a shout out to all you folks out there who wanna make some easy dough. We’re currently running a Cash Money cosplay contest: All you gotta do is dress up as your favorite Guilty Gear or BlazBlue character—hell, dress up as ANY character from ANY of our titles, like Castle of Shikigami III or Jake Hunter—and you’ll have a shot at making cash money! If your cosplay kung-fu is strong, we’ll hook you up with Harry’s Cash Money, 100 bills. So, do you have what it takes?!

It’s the week after Thanksgiving, and we’re sick as dogs, but that didn’t keep us from making a brand-new podcast for you! It’s a little shorter than usual, but we still found time to talk about Jared, discuss Black Friday and NXE, and remind everyone that there are a few BlazBlue posters left. So take a listen. I promise you won’t get whatever it is we’ve got.

Intro

• Hope you had a good Thanksgiving break. We just got sick.
• However, Jared is free of infection. Also, he’s a QA Tester for us.

Black Friday

• We bought things. Jared was too busy sleeping and/or playing WoW.
• Jared likes Wrath of the Lich King, but only because he can play it right now, which new players wouldn’t be able to do.
• Harry bought Transformers on BluRay. Gail has HD-DVD. Fail.
• Jared plugs RiffTrax.
• Harry capitalized on those movies, and bought something for everyone…maybe…

NXE

• Harry loves it. Gail likes the interface and avatars. Could be a little better.
• Jared likes the interface, but thinks Miis are superior because of customization. His avatar looks like a woman with his bushy hair.
• Asians look the same.
• Harry wants PlayStation HOME. A mix between The Sims and Second Life.
• Want to have a better virtual home? Spend some real money.

What We’re Playing

• Harry loves him some HD Remix. He and Gail have been playing it forever. They are old.
• It’s original; it’s automatically a good buy.
• The new ‘Dawn of the Dead’ mod for ‘Left for Dead’. Tons o’ fun. But Jared has no computer. podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com for Jared’s new processor.

LE BB Posters are GO!

• It’s big, it’s beautiful.
• Also, tell us what you think of BlazBlue Arcade.
• If you want it at your arcade, let us know and we’ll work for you!
• Want a BlazBlue Arcade board? Maybe if you ask realllllllllllllly nice. And you have money. Be serious, or Jared will come after you.

If You want a BB Board or Want Us to Talk About Something, Send an Email to podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com.

• Or else.

Contests

• Send a photo of you as a BlazBlue or Guilty Gear character and you can win Harry’s money! Damn…
• Lasts till NY Comic-Con (First week of February).
• Ben might even pay you a visit…

We Have Announcements… Next week…

Thanks for listening!

Time for the second, conclusive half of last week’s show. This one talks about things like WotLK, girls in the gaming industry, and the conundrums inherent in stuff like Collector’s Editions and DLC. Download it and give a listen.

As always, show notes are behind the link. Oh! And congratulations to Joseph Burchell, our GG2 contest winner!

Wrath of the Lich King

• Jared: mild mannered Aksys Games Tester by day, WoW player by night.  Still thinking about boobs.
• Jared’s verdict: If you play, you’ll like it.  If not, then no.  Very Zen.
• Jared has a lot of characters. Over 9000.  He also likes women.

Girls in the Gaming Industry

• Noba doesn’t like it when we talk about breasts.  Harry is scared of the menstrual cycle.  Go figure.
• Harry is a walking sexual harassment suit.  But Aaron is still worse.
• PR has the most girls.  Some are producers, not many.
• Noba and Asuka don’t game as much, but sometimes it’s hard to relate.
• Noba doesn’t like RPGs, so Bo doesn’t LIKE like her.  But she still needs to beat Pokemon.

Noba’s Impressions of the Guys

• Good Idea!!….maybe…
• There was Before Harry, and now there is After Harry.
• Now that Harry is here, there’s more interaction.  Which is good, and…bad.
• Noba, Bo, and the Waterjug.  A True Aksys Story.
• Bo is harmless.  He also likes Claire.
• Aaron is just about perversion.  Word is, he likes taken girls.  He just does his thing.  Don’t hate.
• Noba doesn’t approve, but Aaron plays it cool.  No commentary on Asuka.

Cherry Vail’s ‘Conviction’

What Do You Want in a Collectors/Limited Edition Version?

• LE games: Gears of War 2 Lancer, Fallout 3 set, etc.
• What’s common for these versions?  Artbooks, CDs, In-Game Content, etc.
• More stuff = More $$$.  But sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes…not so much.
• What makes you want to shell out the $$$ for the Limited/Collector’s version?  How much will you use it?
• Bo is an art-whore.  Loves the 2D.
• Gail and Harry’s favorite?  GTA 4 Lockbox.
• Depends on what’s in there.  Unique = Good.  Who wants a 2×4 with their Theresia?
• Send us emails about what you’d like to see in our Collector/Limited Editions: podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com

Download Vs. Physical

• Bo wants physical copy.  Gail, packaged goods.
• You’ll never know what’ll happen…physical is good for backup.
• Noba likes art, so she likes the package.  Aaron prefers package 100% of the time.
• Famitsu says 87% of Japan would rather have the package.
• If you download, you got nothing to show for it.  But, download makes you watch what you buy more since you can’t return those to the store.
• Download saves us money.  Puts Aaron out of a job…maybe…
• Why does it cost the same to download if they save money?  Who knows?

Last Thoughts

• We spent a lot of time talking…
• Harry says Noba is single.  Harry is getting the hurt from Noba.
• Send us feedback/questions at podcast(at)aksysgames(dot)com.  Also, review us on iTunes.
• Contests?  Gail will pick the winner for the GG2 game and Riot Pack at the end of the podcast.
• Cosplay Contest: Send in your cosplay picture of something Guilty Gear to win a DS game of your choice and a BlazBlue poster.  Include a sign with “Aksys Games” on it to avoid cheating!  Putting Aaron on there won’t get you points…probably…
• Thanks for listening.  Aksys signing off.

CONTEST WINNER: JOSEPH BURCHELL

Here’s the english version of the BlazBlue character movelist for your reference. Enjoy!

1. What is the reason for moving away from the okizeme-heavy playing style of most modern games? It seems most attacks don’t knockdown, or if they do they can be teched. What is the goal of this approach?
2. Did any character especially grow on the team during the development process?
3. What led to the decision to make an entirely new fighting game franchise? Can we look forward to new Guilty Gear games as well, or will the focus be more heavily on the BlazBlue universe?
4. How did you come up with the character designs? It seems like a specialty of yours to come up with innovative ideas that have never been tried before, like controlling the weather.
5. What are the biggest gameplay differences between BlazBlue and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core and how do you think they will affect competitive play later down the line by comparison?
6. Is it possible that we’ll see BlazBlue vs. Guilty Gear someday?
7. Will the roster ever exceed 10 characters?
8. Is BlazBlue going to be just one game or part of a series?
9. When most people play a game, they want a cast in which everyone is powerful.  Arc System Works has proven they can do this, but for some reason just let some characters be horrible.  Can you guarantee that players won’t have to experience this with BlazBlue?
10. It’s obvious some characters have far stronger abilities than others, like Tager over Noel. What justified nerfing some characters while keeping others highly buffed?
11. How balanced do you believe BlazBlue is compared to Guilty Gear XX Accent Core? More or less balanced?