| 6/30/2003 |
Ok, a couple of people asked me about the "News"
which I haven't updated in over a year 
Well news is out there on other great sites but here's an
"annual" update  off
the top of my head...
-DOAXVB came out. Has sold well and is a fun game (although
collecting and SIM isn't my cup). The graphics engine is
supposed to be an upgrade on DOA3. I guess so. At any rate
that improved engine is supposed to be in future versions
of DOA.
-The DOA movie looked to be canned for a while but then
it came back so I suppose a moderate to low budget Live
action DOA flick is on the way. According to news links
it's compared to Charlie's Angels which was better than
I personally expected so you never know....
-BTW X-Men ND did come out and did share a lot of style
with DOA (EZ control, Breakable multi-level Backgrounds,
fast pace and even some reversal action). On the Other hand
the graphics in the game have nothing to do with DOA since
they are pretty much CRAP 
Still a decent title if you can ignore graphics (which I
can't) and it's influenced by DOA3
-The big news is that the next game in
the Series is DOA Online 
First 3D Online fighting title. Too
bad it's not DOA3 online but we'll take it. If you haven't
read the latest issue of GMR it did have some interesting
info:
-The game is to be a 2 disk set with Saturn Version DOA1
on a seperate disk.
-The game is to be based on the Japanese version
of DOA2 HC on PS2 including some Non-US version
stages.
-New DOA background story and CG will focus on expanding
the Kasumi / Ayane story line
-There will be new outfits that were not in DOA2 Hardcore
(but will all the old outfits return?)
-Graphics should be better than DOA3 
and some stages will have some additions.
Also, in the article Itagaki says that he is "thinking
of making DOA3 Online for Xbox. I think that DOA3 is still
a good game and that many people want to play it online
but DOA1 and 2 are first. DOA3 already exists on Xbox so
my first job is to bring the original titles to Xbox fans."
-Aug. 2003 GMR p.48 -
So I wouldn't hold my breath since Itagaki "thinking"
doesn't mean it will happen, but it's being considered.
At any rate DOA2 being upgraded and taken online (along
with DOA1 BTW) is News worthy of an Annual News update.
(PS. I pulled out Saturn DOA1 and have to admit Itagaki
is right, it's fun.)
- |
| 5/24/2002 |
A couple of interesting pieces of DOA3 realated
news has surfaced in last few weeks:
The new DOA3 Xtreme volleyball game was introduced at E3 this
week. Download the large
video from the link on the media page. I noticed
that the new Xmen Fighting game in development from Activision
is said to be "DOA like" in it's gameplay approach:
Article HERE
Good, more games with "DOA3 like" play
sounds great to me.
X-Men: Next Dimension is a traditional 3D
fighter. The title takes inspiration from several major
fighters before it, including Tekken and Street Fighter,
but it seems to be most influenced
by Dead or Alive 3. The fight mechanics are
similarly designed -- fast and furious with eight-way movement
in an out of the level and the ability to quickly side step
or counter. There are crouching moves and mid-air moves,
too. When fighting in mid-air, the camera will sometimes
slow to a "bullet-time" Matrix view, and then
kick back into regular speed as the fight moves on. Mid-air
counters are also possible.
Also DOA3 like are
the some of the extras, including open-ended environments
that enable for fights across multiple levels and in different
sections of a particular stage. Indeed, every level
in the game works in this fashion, so it's possible to hurl
Cyclops, for example, out of the front windows of Xavier's
mansion, whereupon the battle will ensue on the tennis courts
below. From there, the tennis courts can be made to split
open, revealing a chasm in the ground below and a secret
hangar underground -- and again, the fight can be taken
there. It's then possible from the hangar to take a warp
back into Xavier's mansion and continue the brawl.
|
| 5/3/2002 |
In the news department DOA3
hit the
1 MILLION COPIES SOLD. For a game only out on a
system that came out 7 months ago that has to be considered
MEGA SUCCESSFUL with more sales to come. That should
translate to more gaming goodness of this type ;-)
|
| 4/24/2002 |
For subscribers to OXM the
"BOOSTER DISK" for DOA3 is already out.
I am a subscriber and I have it. Costume updates are
nice and added automatically. The movie has to be
viewed from the demo disk (boo) but it is very cool.
No new moves as we had already heard, but the magazine implies
there could be some "secret" stuff on it.
We'll see.
My favorite new costume so far, Christie, tight!
It is a fairly new precedent for a console game to get
an update so we should definitely give Tecmo & MS props
for it.
How about MORE ENHANCEMENT DISKS, that would nice.
|
| 4/21/2002 |
Also, in case you hadn't heard
the UPDATE DISK will be released next month May 7th.
It will have new costumes and an Intro Movie but NO NEW MOVES
:-( Oh, well it is (practically) free.
|
| 4/21/2002 |
If you haven't seen these 2 COMBO MOVIES from
the Japanese version of DOA3, well you better start downloading.
You can go this original URL:
http://earth.endless.ne.jp/users/kototuki/movie/f_movie.htm
OR
RightClick and "Save Target
AS" to download from this site:
ComboMovie1
ComboMovie2
Bonus
|
| 4/21/2002 |
In case you missed this article
from Itakagi where he mentions a bit more on DOA4 Click
HERE to READ it.
Thanks for the reminder, Kitsune
;-)
|
| 4/3/2002 |
The first official talk of DEAD
OR ALIVE 4 I've seen has surfaced. Check the link
HERE. The
thing that sticks out is MULTI-PLATFORM. Not the best
news for MS and Xbox.
Another thing that sticks out is the movie reviewer who
says:
"The
actual gameplay, however, seems formulaic (admittedly,
I don't play many fighting games, except for Tekken 3
for the Playstation..."
Of course, another reviewer who doesn't know how to play
the game!! At least this one admits it.
|
| 4/3/2002 |
Tekken
4 is out for comparison (in Japan). I'm fortunate
enough to have it. For a my quick graphical assessment click
HERE
|
| 3/26/2002 |
Wall Street Journal
has a very interesting article that mentions DOA3 and the
story behind Microsoft trying to get the exclusive rights
to the game from Tecmo as well as other major Japanese gaming
franchises.
Amazing what goes on "behind the scenes". You
can read the article in the current WSJ or on their website
with a subscription.
Don't have a subscription or copy? You might be able to
read it by clicking HERE. |
| 3/19/2002 |
Finally got a chance to sit
down and play the Virutal Fighter 4
arcade version. With the console version due
in couple of days I'll be interested to see how close it is.
VF4 of course is the grandfather of 3d fighters like DOA
series. My impression of VF4? I liked it, very
nice look, esp. the backgrounds.
The game really does share a general similarity with
DOA engine (more so than something like Tekken) which is
not suprising since DOA obviously took a lot of inspiration
from VF.
Played Vanessa and Kage. Vanessa interesting look
and fighting style, a bit too buff for my taste in fighting
females, but I guess that's something different. Kage,
nice, I can already tell there's a lot of cool moves to
be found there.
How does it compare to DOA3? After playing DOA3 quite a
bit, VF4 plays much slower and therefore a little more deliberate.
Definitely not quite as spectacular and over the top actionwise
as DOA3 but that's ok it's still very cool, different strokes....
Graphically, very nice but I have to say DOA3 is king of
hill visually, even compared to the VF4 arcade.
I'll certainly be picking VF4 up.
|
| 3/14/2002 |
DOA3 Tournament was held in NY. Read about
it and check out video tournament video
HERE |
| 3/13/2002 |
Are Online
fighters in the Future? 2 of the biggest Developers
in the Business think it's definitely a possibility.
On VF: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2854286-2,00.html
Yu Suzuki Q&A
We sit down with the creator
of Virtua Fighter to get his thoughts on Virtua Fighter
4......
GS: Do you think
we'll ever see a Virtua Fighter game online?
YS: It's
technically feasible. It would just depend on the market.
On Tekken: http://www.gamers.com/feature/tekken4/ss05.jsp
In the interest of seeing all things from
all sides, we sat down with Masahiro
Kimoto, director of
the Tekken series since its inception, to discuss
the makings of Tekken 4.......
Gamers.com: What's
in the future for Tekken as a series? Will we be able to
fight each other online someday?
Masahiro Kimoto:
Regarding online features, although
it hasn't yet hapspened, it will be possible in the future.
However, we will not introduce online features if we have
to sacrifice speed. We are going to research it and someday
we would like to include it in the features when the time
is ripe. One very important issue before considering online
features, if the sales of Tekken 4 is not very good, our
company might not let us to make a sequel title. However,
as long as players expect another Tekken, we would like
to continue developing more and more attractive sequels.
|
| 3/13/2002 |
Dead
or Alive 3 movie deal struck. Ok, my take. A CGI
movie, like Final Fantasy would probably be better but the
cost and failure of FF makes that unlikely for awhile.
Live action video game movies have been very cheesy (see
Street Fighter, Mario Brothers, Double Dragon), on the other
hand martial arts action and beautiful
women is a recipe that should be hard to really mess up.
|
| 3/11/2002 |
Dead or Alive 3 Officially
a Financial Success: read about it here
|
| 3/7/2002 |
Tecmo makes the "booster"
enhancement disk official. It's free, (other than buying
the magazine) what more can you say? New
costumes, new CGI, and more? Better have the new moves
too. June magazine comes out a month earlier so it should
be out in 2 months.
|
| 3/6/2002 |
Don't miss the Tag Team Throws
listing under "General Strategies", go down the
list and try them all at least once.
|
| 3/6/2002 |
You can now submit faqs or combos or any gameplay
info off the Submit Content Link. Try it.
|
| 3/02/2002 |
This is a page for my own
rants or whatever I might consider "News".
Like the fact that Dead or Alive 3 won the Fighting Game of
the Year award from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
(AIAS).
http://www.teamxbox.com/news.php?id=2685
Maybe that's why I like the game enough to make a strategy
site? |
| |
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