How’s it going? I know, it feels like it’s been forever since the last update. I’ve been working on wrapping up my own pet project, namely 3 Themes and a gamer pic pack for Xbox Live featuring all the characters of Puzzle Fighter (basically Street Fighter and Darkstalkers). I just sent those off to someone else to handle the submission to MS. They should be available later this month. I’ll post a little preview of what they’ll look like pretty soon, but I think you’ll be very pleased with how they turned out. I know I am. I don’t want to spoil it, but let’s just say that everybody who voted for their favorite characters to appear in the gamer pic pack will get what they want…

Well, Rey, the producer on Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, was able to get me another update this afternoon. I’m just now getting around to posting it because I’ve been working on everything above plus a whole lot more today. So, let’s get right to it.

I have lots of feedback from Rey, plus some brand new Street Fighter art for you to drool over.

Click through to continue reading and see the exclusive new artwork.

=> Read more!

Released on Steam yesterday, Lost Planet for the PC should also be hitting retail store shelves today. Buy it from the store and you even get a free 1-year subscription to the Games for Windows magazine. There’s a quick update to the game that you’ll want as well, which improves performance and optimization. Hop over to our Lost Planet forums to discuss.

Also, I’m pleased to announce that the Global Gaming League is going to be holding a Lost Planet PC tournament in July, so you’ll want to watch out for that.

—Brian

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition PC goes live today on Steam at 3pm PDT. Experience the multiplayer mayhem that made Lost Planet a platinum seller on the Xbox 360, on your PC! Some of us here at Capcom will be online and in-game once the game goes live today, so come join us.

And, dude! It has mechs. ‘Nuff said.

Now go on. Shoo! Get Lost!

Not satisfied with simply playing Leon S. Kennedy in the recently released Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition, some people want to be him. How? By having a Leon S. Kennedy Mii, of course.

Spotted over on showmii.com is this Mii of Leon S. Kennedy. It does kind of look like him, except you can’t pose your Mii’s in the various stylishly cool poses that Leon is always pictured in.

The original Mega Man, sans awesome box art, is now available on Nintendo’s Virtual Console in the European territories. Though some consider Mega Man II the best in the series, see what started it all with this late 80’s classic, offering 7 stages of megabusting platform goodness, all for the cost of 500 Wii Points (Which means you’re lucky, because if it came with the box art, it’ll should cost a lot more!).

From now until June 27th, you can pre-order Lost Planet: Extreme Condition PC on Steam and get 10% off the $39.95 purchase price. Please note that this offer is only good if you pre-order a digital copy through Steam, and not through our Capcom online store, which is the place to go if you wish to order a boxed copy instead.

A lot of you have been asking for some new Chun Li stuff. While I don’t have color animation frames from the actual gameplay for you, I do have something almost as cool. And for your reading pleasure, SF HD Remix producer Rey Jimenez has given me yet another message to share with you, where he talks about how the game is coming along, and addresses feedback about Guile’s new look and other questions and comments that have come up in the comments here on the Digital blog and on some of the various forums. If you haven’t read his other posts, hit “Digital” at the top of the page and see what other stuff I have been posting for SF and the other download titles.

Click through to read the latest from Rey and check out Chun Li.

=> Read more!

So, the new maps are out today!!! What do you think of them? I donwloaded them late last night, but haven’t played them yet. I neglected to bring my system into work today, but the usual suspects here in the office have been playing on and off all afternoon (in semi-private matches with some of our favorite LP buddies from the forums).

I can’t wait to hop on tonight and check out the new maps for myself.

-Brian

The Lost Planet Map Pack 3 is now available for download from Xbox Live Marketplace. Map Pack 3 includes three brand new multiplayer environments, the lush jungles of Ruins, the dark caves of Ice Drop, and the unique 8-bit look of Lost Technology, all for only 400 Microsoft Points.

Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition shipped to stores across the country yesterday, with the game popping on the shelves of some stores already. If you don’t feel like searching the shelves for a copy, you can hop on the Internet Channel and point your Wii Remote over to our Capcom Online Store and order it for $29.95 and have it delivered to your doorstep.

Hey, gotta save all your energy for hunting zombies!

Brian is running a poll over on the Digital Blog asking for your favorite Puzzle Fighter characters to compile into a Xbox 360 Gamer Picture Pack and for Dashboard themes, in time with the imminent release of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

Hop on over now to the Digital Blog and throw in your vote in the comments.

My vote is on Dan!

Here’s the deal. I’m working on putting together some Dashboard themes and a gamer picture pack for the Xbox 360 to go along with the launch of Puzzle Fighter (which is coming very soon). I have one theme complete and I’m working on the other.

But for the gamer pic pack, I’m not sure who to include. The themes are like wallpapers, but when you use a gamer pic in your profile, it actually represent you. It says something about you, or shows what games you like. Everyone would probably like Ken or Ryu, but there’s room for more and I want to leave it up to you who makes the cut.

There are basically 11 characters in the game, and I can put up to 5 images in a single pack. But I thought, why not ask you guys what I should do? You tell me which characters you want in the pack, and I’ll include them.

Here are the characters:
Akuma
Chun Li
Dan
Devilot
Donovan
Felicia
HsienKo
Ken
Morrigan
Ryu
Sakura

BTW, if you don’t know what gamer pics are, they are the icon that goes in your gamercard, your profile. Here’s my gamercard. As you can see, I’m sporting the guy from Mass Effect as my icon right now:

So, who are your favorite Puzzle Fighter characters from that list? Who do you want to put in your gamer profile to represent you?

Just vote in the comments below. I’ll be monitoring the comments, and Friday afternoon (6/22) I’ll tally it up.

—Brian

EDIT:
I’ve looked at the votes, and I know what I want to do with the gamer pics, so now it’s a matter of clearing it with a few departments internally. Once I get a firm answer, I’ll announce what I’m doing with the gamer pics. I also have 2 Dashboard themes done and I’m working on a third. They’re pretty sweet, and I’ll give a preview of them here on the blog before they hit Marketplace.

From the “Great Games that Time Forgot” file: Some high-quality CyberBots
head-to-head matches from Mikado (via Go For Broke News).

1. Warlock vs Blodia
2. Blodia vs Swordsman
3. Warlock vs Tarantula
4. Jackal vs Blodia
5. Blodia vs Swordsman
6. Vise vs Blodia
7. Blodia vs Jackal
8. Vise vs Swordsman
9. Warlock vs Swordsman
10. Blodia vs Vise

… With The North American Release Of Mega Man® II For Mobile

LOS ANGELES – June 14, 2007 – Capcom Interactive, Inc. is bringing the blue bomber back to the mobile platform with the North American release of Mega Man® II. Considered by many fans and critics to be the best game in the series, Mega Man II casts players as the robotic Mega Man in adventure spanning 14 high-flying side-scrolling levels.

“Mega Man is one of the most popular franchises in the history of gaming and its legacy to Capcom incalculable,” said Midori Yuasa, President, Capcom Interactive, Inc. “For a game to be worthy of the title ‘Mega Man’ it has to meet a certain standard. We believe Mega Man II for mobile lives up to this standard, and delivers a fantastic play experience for the gamer on the go.”

Throughout the game, players will encounter eight robot masters dubbed Metal Man, Flash Man, Quick Man, Bubble Man, Heat Man, Wood Man, Air Man and Crash Man each armed with a unique signature weapon. After defeating a robot master, Mega Man can then use the captured signature weapon against the remaining robot masters to devastating effect. In addition to the eight masters, players will have to fight several incarnations of the nefarious Dr. Wily before the final showdown with the mad scientist.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the beloved Mega Man franchise. To date, the series has generated more than 100 titles, the most of any Capcom brand, with sales of more than 26 million units worldwide. In addition to the mobile title, Capcom Entertainment will also release Mega Man Star Force™ and Mega Man® ZX Advent for the Nintendo DS™ system later this year.

About Capcom
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment. Founded in 1983, the company has created world-renowned franchises including Resident Evil®, Street Fighter®, Mega Man®, Breath of Fire®, Devil May Cry® and the Onimusha® series. Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, the company maintains operations in the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany, Tokyo and Hong Kong. More information about Capcom and its products can be found on the companys web site at www.capcom.com.

Since its establishment in November of 2005, Capcom Interactive, Inc. has published several mobile games based on Capcom’s celebrated intellectual property, including 1942, Ghost n’ Goblins, Mega Man and Resident Evil®: The Missions, to commercial and critical acclaim. For additional information on the company and its offerings, please visit www.capcommobile.com.

There’s a long pause near the beginning that borders on uncomfortable, but be patient and you shall be rewarded with a pretty awesome hand-drawn Mega Man animation.

Spotted on Kotaku.

Shoryuken.com has available the first set of videos from the Capcom Vs. SNK 2 finals of the recent EVO East 2007 competition. Here’s what you’ll see from the videos of the 25 matches that are available for either downloading or streaming through YouTube.

• Multiple Groove representation: see high level C, A, P, and K Groove action!


• Watch how West Coast P-Groove master Albert Jal Nguyen punishes his opponents with Parries!


• See Arturo rage his way to crazy finishes with K-Groove!


• Marvel how Sanford defies CvS2s defensive style with his Magneto-like rush-down Ken!


• Witness Nestors masterful use of Roll Canceling that leads him to victory!


• Observe Justin Wong carefully picking his opponents apart!


• Crowd noise means you get to hear all the drama of the Justin/Nestor finals!


• So many crazy and intense last second finishes!!

Click on the image to hop over to Shoryuken.com and see the videos.

I got some new art from Rey that just came in, along with a note to post:

Just a quick peek at Guile today. I noticed a lot of questions on the Capcom BBS and Digital Blogs from my last post. I will try to address some of them next week. Today is a pretty important milestone day for Super Street Fighter II Turbo and I will be working on it all day. So be sure to check the blog next week for the next update.

—Rey

Here’s the first Guile image:

Click through to see the other two images.

=> Read more!

Over on Brian’s Lost Planet blog, there is news of the imminent release of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Map Pack 3. This map pack includes 3 brand new maps: Ice Drop, Ruins, and my favorite, Lost Technology (An awesome 8-bit looking map).

Ice Drop

Ruins

Lost Technology

As pretty as these screenshots are, they just don’t do justice to how beautiful these new maps really are, so hop on over to the Lost Planet blog for fly-through videos of the maps as well.

Next Thursday, June 21, Lost Planet will see a brand new map pack update, with 3 new maps in Map Pack #3. Map Pack #1 gave us Radar Field and Island 902, while Map Pack #2 gave us Trial Point and Hive Complex. Well, now you’ll have 3 more amazing maps to play around in. Even if I didn’t work for Capcom, I’d still think that the multiplayer map designs are some of the absolute coolest I’ve seen on any console game. And with Map Pack #3, it gets even better.

Click through to see screenshots and videos of the three new maps.

=> Read more!

Now that Rey J. has introduced himself and his titles (SF HD Remix and Talisman), here’s one of our other internal producers in our office, Robert Hamiter, who is producing Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix along with a cool new game called Rocketmen: Axis of Evil.

I know he’s super busy plus alpha trying to wrap up Puzzle Fighter, but he was kind enough to take a chunk out of his afternoon today to write up this intro to Puzzle Fighter and Rocketmen for me.

My name is Robert Hamiter and Im the Publishing Project Coordinator at Capcom. My first job in the video game industry was at I-Motion (Infogrames, now Atari) providing technical support for Alone in the Dark games. I later worked at Disney, Activision, EA, Namco, and finally Capcom doing technical support and/or game testing.

As an avid gamer, I really enjoyed working in this industry but always wanted to have a more active hand in the games I worked on. After spending a year and a half at Capcom, I was able to move into the R&D department of our US HQ here in the Bay Area. As a project coordinator, I learned a lot about various 1st party/ESRB submission processes and was able to travel many places showcasing our upcoming games. A year after that, I was offered the opportunity to produce Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Rocketmen.

Click through to keep reading.

=> Read more!

CNET Australia recently conducted an interview with Jun Takeuchi, the producer of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for the PC. They discussed, among other things, the prefered control schemes, sales expectations and issues with porting to DirectX 10.

CNET.com.au: Did you face any problems moving Lost Planet to DirectX 10?

Jun Takeuchi: Yes, there were plenty of obstacles we had to overcome when moving Lost Planet to DirectX 10. As far as I know, no other DirectX 10-compatible titles existed. One of the first problems was getting our hands on DX10-compatible motherboards, which were still a long way from being widely available and most of the drivers were not up to date. These things did cause some headaches when we were first getting started.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

I’ve got a triple-punch of goodies for you SF fans today. First, new artwork to feast your eyes on. Second, producer Rey Jimenez walks us through how Udon Comics are going about updating the character artwork for the game. And third, Rey responds to some of the questions, requests, and speculations that have been made about the game both in the comments here on the blog and on the message boards.

Here’s a quick and dirty peek into how the fantastic artists from Udon are creating the frames of animation. For some of you artist and graphics peeps, this will be old news to you. But for a lot of you, this should give you some cool insight into the process that you may not have known about.

Click through to continue reading and check out the artwork.

=> Read more!

Brian’s Capcom Digital Blog now has up a hi-resolution Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix wallpaper featuring Ken and Ryu for you to download.

Brian also let’s slip that the release date for SPFIIHDR is sometime next month.

Grab the wallpaper from the Digital Blog.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Street Fighter art I’ve been sharing. Today I have some “sort-of” Street Fighter art. It’s SF characters, but in all their Puzzle Fighter cuteness.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is coming out in the next few months for both XLA and PSN (and Steam as well), and I know all you guys and gals are at least as excited about it as I am. (I can’t wait to play it with my wife, who never plays games).

The producer, Robert Hamiter, is extremely busy trying to coordinate the development to get it out the door soon, but he has promised me he’d write up something to share with you as his formal debut on my blog. That should be up by the end of the week.

But in the meantime, I threw together a desktop wallpapers to share with you. It’s got Ryu and Ken, one of the stage backgrounds from Puzzle Fighter (10 points to anyone who tells me which character’s stage it is).

Click through to keep reading and download the wallpapers.

=> Read more!

With the PC version of Lost Planet just around the corner (the 26th of June to be exact), Gamespot recently interviewed Producer Jun Takeuchi about the PC version and the challenges of bringing it to both XP and Vista, both DX9 and DX10. You can read it here. And if you missed the candid interview I did with Takeuchi-san back in January, you can still read it here.

—Brian

-PS – Check back here on Friday…

Before there was the Dante you know and love from the original Devil May Cry, there was Dante and Virgil, Dante’s evil twin brother. Explore an earlier chapter in Dante’s history with Devil May Cry 3 and experience the same fast-paced action that has become a signature of the Devil May Cry series.

A Capcom classic, Devil May Cry® 3: Dante’s Awakening Special Edition is now available on Valve’s Steam digital distribution service for $19.95.

First Japanese Video Game Company Signs on to Offer Multiple PC Games Through Valve’s Leading Digital Distribution Platform

SAN MATEO, Calif – June 12, 2007 – Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, and Valve® today announced an agreement that brings a collection of Capcom’s current and future PC games to Valve’s Steam digital distribution service. Under the arrangement, PC versions of Lost Planet™: Extreme Condition, Onimusha® 3, Devil May Cry® 3: Special Edition, Super Puzzle Fighter™ II Turbo HD Remix, and future PC titles will be made available via the leading online distribution platform. Capcom is the first major Japanese software publisher to sign on with Steam.

=> Read more!

Our customer service department is alerting us to a potential conflict between the latest PSP firmware, version 3.5, and Capcom Puzzle World (most notably Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo) that may cause the title to crash.

This issue appears to be similar to the same issues that we experienced previously with PSP firmware versions 3.3 and earlier, which was fixed with firmware version 3.4.

We are aware of this issue, and are working with Sony on possible fixes as quickly as we can.

I’m jealous. Not only does our breathens in Japan get to play the upcoming MMO Monster Hunter Frontier, they also get these wild and wacky, not to mention tasty, promotions to boot. Capcom Japan is working with Pizza Hut and Glico ice cream to give buyers who purchase their real food with in-game quest rewards. Now I’m hungry.

Thanks Kotaku.

Go For Broke News! is a simple site but an amazing clearinghouse for the latest and best in competitive fighting game videos from around the world. This week they launched a special “Capcom-centric” videos page. The videos are updated constantly, and feature top players from across the planet, playing on a variety Capcom fighting titles, old and new, popular and relatively obscure.

Check it out here!

Wow, I guess you guys really like the new Street Fighter!!! The producer, Rey Jimenez, wanted to respond to some of your comments and share a bit more about the game, and thank you for the overwhelming response himself.

I just have a quick update today. The next sneak peak I have is of everyone’s favorite Russian bear wrestler, yes the Red Cyclone himself, Zangief. What we have here is a work in progress, that’s why it’s not colored in yet and there might be a few minor changes that will go into it.

Click to see image and read the rest of the post.

=> Read more!

Brian has posted images of what Akuma will look like in HD up on his new Digial Blog. This time, he also shows us a couple of frames of animation as well. Click on the image to hop to Brian’s post.

Just noticed over on the Lost Planet Blog that the Battlegrounds map is now up and available for download from Xbox Live Marketplace, and best of all, it’s free. Download one of the best Lost Planet multiplayer maps and join in on the mayhem!

Last week I mentioned that the Battleground map, which originally was only available to people who bought the Collector’s Edition of Lost Planet, would be out today.

Well, I just confirmed, and the map is up and available to anyone who doesn’t have it yet. So if you’re playing LP online, be sure to tell everyone you meet in matches to go download it. The map really is awesome, but I know sometimes it was hard to get full games going on it. That should hopefully be no problem now. Woo-hoo!!

If you don’t know what it looks like yet, check this out.

—Brian

So you’ve already seen how Ken looks in his new hi-res duds, courtesy of Udon Comics.

I plan on bringing you art for all the SF characters in the game, and much more, and to continue on the heels of Ken, here is Akuma. The first image shows a comparison between the old version on the right and the new version on the left. There are two more frames of animation below, showing off Akuma in the middle of classic moves. Yes, these are actual frames of animation from the game, meaning Akuma will look like this in the game, only animated.

Click image to see a larger version

Click through to see even more images of Akuma.

=> Read more!

If you missed it last week, I posted the very first image from the new Street Fighter game, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (X360 and PS3) on our Street Fighter forums.

Basically the game is being re-drawn from the ground up by the talented folks at Udon Comics (who also do the official Street Fighter comic in the US) so you’ll be able to play the game in glorious 1080p HD native resolution.

Click “More” to see what Ken will look like in the game.

=> Read more!

That Brian, he sure likes to blog (That’s him in the picture, in his “Ready to Blog” pose). Not only does he already have a Lost Planet Blog, he now has another one: The new Capcom Digital Blog.

Well, technically, both blogs are already “digital”, as in, made up of pixels and bits, but the new Capcom Digital Blog ain’t about that. It will be the place to go for information and insider looks at Capcom’s downloadable content and games, such as the upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo Remix, Rocketmen: Axis of Evil, and Talisman.

From now on, it’ll also be where you’ll find things such as the Ken sprite from SSF2THDR that was leaked last week in our forums, so be sure to stay tuned to the Digital Blog for all the news, first!

I asked Rey Jimenez, producer of Super Street Fighter II HD Remix here at Capcom, to write up a little introduction of himself and the game, sort of as a guest blogger. He did a write-up for my LP blog about X06 Canada last year. You’ll definitely be hearing more from him in the future.

Click to read more.

=> Read more!

Welcome to the new Capcom Digital blog!!

What is “Digital” you ask? Basically “Digital” refers to all of our download titles that will appear on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and in some cases the PC space. So far we’ve announced Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Rocketmen: Axis of Evil, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and Talisman, all multi-platform for both the 360 and PS3, with many more coming next year.

Click to keep reading.

=> Read more!

You can now hop on Xbox Live and download some sweet new content for both Dead Rising and Lost Planet.

First, Dead Rising now has three free new costumes for Frank available: The “Pure White Suit”, “Stripe” and “Accountant”. In addition, 2 new themes and picture packs are also available.

For Lost Planet, you will also find 2 new themes and picture packs, in addition to the upcoming free release of the Battlegrounds multiplayer map.

Both the Dead Rising and Lost Planet themes are available for 150 MS points each, while each picture pack will be 50 points.

Now that we know that an Onimusha movie is in the works, the first big question that I’m sure came to mind was, “Is Takeshi Kaneshiro going to be in it?” After all, Samanosuke Akechi is already modeled and voiced by the well-known half-Taiwanese and half Japanese actor. It would only make sense, right?

Well, Onimusha fans, you can now let go of that breath you’ve been holding. According to aintitcool.com, Onimusha’s director-to-be, Christophe Gans, has confirmed (With an “Of course”) that Takeshi Kaneshiro will indeed be in Onimusha.

Via aintitcool.com.

It’s common knowledge that when you put racing stripes on your “Rice Rocket”, it automatically gives you an extra 5 horsepower. But who needs horsepower when you can have the power of a God? That’s probably what inspired the owner of this Forza Motorsport 2 player, and obvious Okami fan, to this customized paintjob for his Ferrari.

Via forzamotorsport.net Forums.

Those of you who forked over the extra $10 to get the extra swank Collector’s Edition of Lost Planet back in January have already seen how cool the Battleground multiplayer map is. But since that map was exclusive to Collector’s Edition owners, it probably hasn’t seen as much love as the original maps that shipped with the game. Well, that’s about to change. Because on June 7 Battleground will become a free download for everyone. Don’t forget, there are already 2 map packs out, 2 maps each, 400 MS points each.

Click to see more images of Battleground.

=> Read more!

Team Empire Arcadia was out in force at the EVO East: East Coast Championships this past weekend, and in addition to wrecking some serious shop, they also took the time to take some pictures and provide a nice breakdown of the weekends highlights from an East coast perspective.

Check it out HERE.

It sounds like the Mega Man 2 theme song, but I can’t be quite sure, what with it actually having lyrics, and the… yelling. Oh the yelling.

Previously, the popular Lost Planet multiplayer map, Battlegrounds, was available only to owners of the Collector’s Edition. However, come June 7th, we’re opening up the map for all players to download, free (And who doesn’t like free?).

Click on the image below for the obligatory screenshots.