Michael McWhertor — If you like your fighting games strictly on a two-dimensional plane and with just a single gender, you might want to start paying attention to Skullgirls, a new independently developed fighting game coming to "high-definition home consoles."Source: Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/#!5751097/skullgirls-brings-2d-girl-on-girl-fighting-to-consoles-this-summer)
Skullgirls is the work of Reverge Labs, lead by ex-Pandemic developer and fighting game expert Mike "Mike Z" Zaimont. It's a combo-laden girl-versus-girl brawl, pitting girls with deadly hair and short skirts against each other in mortal combat. And now, after making a few appearances at fighting game tournaments and conventions, Skullgirls is coming to consoles.
The game's distinctive art style comes courtesy of artist Alex Ahad, whose work can be browsed on deviantART.
Skullgirls roster features characters like Valentine, a nurse ninja; the demon-haired Filia; a girl who wears hulking arms for a hat, Cerebella; and zombie cutie Squigly.
Expect Skullgirls to hit Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this summer, even if those consoles haven't been officially announced, with our first proper hands-on preview happening next month.
To see early video of Skullgirls in action, enjoy some pre-release footage.
Skullgirls will be published by Autumn Games.
It reminds me of the Vs Capcom, Darkstalkers (and blazblu somewhat) fighters
Also interested in the shading and lighting of the sprites effect. (Though I honestly thought they would have made this sort of visual effect for 2-D games by the mid-life of this generation's consoles. Of course if I am missing and/or forgetting about a game that has already done this.)
There was a developer walk through posted recently that explained how this worked. Basically, each character is a flat shaded polygon that responds to the lighting engine they have in place in a 3D manner. For an even more basic idea of what this means, its the same effect used for all the 2D in the Paper Mario series except with the addition of a dynamic light engine like you'd see in your standard fare 3D game on the 360/PS3. There are a lot of "tricks" like that in play with this game, most notably with the hit sparks (3D polygonal effects flat shaded to look 2D) and they all give off a cool Street Fighter Alpha 3 on PSX kind of vibe.
Man, the heroine has legs! :o So does her friend or rival.
Announcement video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0KoKdiUuOg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0KoKdiUuOg)
Sample track
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV8uYpvMYWQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV8uYpvMYWQ)
How awesome? So awesome. 8D
http://iplaywinner.com/news/2011/6/16/play-skullgirls-next-weekend.html
So this new girl's going through the development stages in design. The hard part is getting her design to fit this game's world and writing a convinceable bio to match.They already did that long ago.
Anyone else have the feeling they're going to be sinking all this capital and resources into this project, and it'll just remain a hidden gem ignored by the majority, never make any money, and the company goes belly up?
It's a day one for me, but it honestly doesn't look like something the majority would buy or even pay any mind to. It also doesn't have any precedence or big title to back it up, like Street Fighter.
Wait...they actually care about dudes as well as boobs?
Wait...they actually care about dudes as well as boobs?If you go by that hexagon then no, they just care about the boobs
If you're headed out to EVO this weekend, you might be interested to know that Skullgirls developer Reverge Labs will be dropping by and throwing not only a panel, but also a side tournament for the as-of-yet unreleased title. The panel kicks off at 12:00 PM on Friday, and the side tournament is tentatively scheduled to start around 5 PM.
There's a little more incentive to participate in the side tourney beyond having the chance to play an unreleased game, though. Reverge Labs is also throwing some prizes into the mix, with second and third place receiving a Skullgirls-themed t-shirt - the grand prize is a custom, one-of-a-kind Skullgirls arcade stick designed by the team over at Arcade-in-a-Box (http://www.aiabstore.com).
If you want a chance to win the stick, be sure to register at the Skullgirls table no later than 3 PM on Saturday. If you do plan to enter, let us know!
Anyone else have the feeling they're going to be sinking all this capital and resources into this project, and it'll just remain a hidden gem ignored by the majority, never make any money, and the company goes belly up?late reply- but, Its got Michiru Yamane. That alone is enough to give it some pull. the fact that it has "the one who did castlevania's music"
It's a day one for me, but it honestly doesn't look like something the majority would buy or even pay any mind to. It also doesn't have any precedence or big title to back it up, like Street Fighter.
Our good friend Jesse Cortez over at Destructoid (http://www.destructoid.com/hands-on-with-parasoul-from-skullgirls-209206.phtml) had some time to sit down with Mike Z at EVO and try out one of Skullgirls newly announced characters Parasoul. He gives a great break down of her playstyle, relating many of her attacks to characters in other games to give readers a better idea what she is all about. Check out a small excerpt after the break and read the rest by clicking here (http://www.destructoid.com/hands-on-with-parasoul-from-skullgirls-209206.phtml).
Her special moves can be divided into two types. The first involves the use of her umbrella, which releases napalm grenades that travel in an arc dictated by how long you hold the button down. If you played as Cable from Marvel vs. Capcom 2, you should be familiar with this system. What I found interesting is that the Skullgirls team used EVO as a play-test and actually changed how these grenades worked based on what they saw at the convention. Therefore, the way to set off these grenades is still under development, but it's impressive that they are relying on actual gamer play-testing to decide on the final move set.
I'm OK with waiting as long as it's good. Id rather not have a rushed production, and crappy output.You do have a point there. Better late than than rushed (I'm looking at you, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006).
It IS important for them, since they're a first time contestant in the genre, to get things as right as they possibly can. Otherwise they may be overshadowed, and get swept up by the big boys, never to release again. And even if they tried, would anyone pay them any mind if the firs tone sucked? This is their one and only shot, and I think they realize this.
OK, so I got to spend a few moments chatting it up with Ravidrath (handle for the person in charge of Skullgirls' PR) today at Comic Con before I went on to [spoiler]get blown the [tornado fang] up[/spoiler] try out the game. As I told Ravi, the game is really impressive in person, very vibrant and wildly creative with a real attention to detail. I love the animation quality and the levels of insane that went into designing these characters. It's something of a literal playable cartoon to the eyes, but when you get to actually play it, you see that there's an extremely solid and well executed game there just waiting to be explored. I can see myself spending a lot of time in this game especially with all the strides being taken to "game-ify" training and learning "how to fighting game." :P
So on to the stuff people probably want to hear. I played a rickshaw 2 person team of Ms. Fortune and Peacock, though really I should have went Ms. Fortune & Fillia. (Woulda been easier to learn with a star character, plus rushdown 4 lyfe.)
Enlighten me on something real quick though if you see this Ravi, who was the gentleman that was playing beside me? (Actually a general who was who post would be cool too, gotta get it into my head who everyone is. :P)
Besides being my first real experience playing a fighter on stick, all this time spent not playing team based fighters or faster paced ones regularly really came to haunt me as I went from "OK cool, I remember the character's moves, let's try to put them to some use" to "mash moarrrrrr" mode against this guy's Cerebella. Cerebella btw is an extreme crowd pleaser. No matter what I was getting hit with, I was in full "I ain't even mad" mode just because that character is fun as hell to see played at even average level (my opponent swears he was pretty meh in the game, if that's meh then I have a loooong way to go and Cerebella is amazing. :lol) I was getting hit with command grab setups I didn't even see when they were right there, hitting random buttons and forgetting all about chain series. It was a really bad showing on my part. I had a lot of fun with just those two rounds and spectating from afar though. (Shoutouts to not wanting to come off awkward & being patient waiting behind the guy speaking to Ravi before myself only to feel awkward after introducing myself and getting the GAF VIP treatment so by the way. :lol)
The main reason why I feel so impressed with this and wanted to make this post though is because of the collective effort this game is getting to be the best product it can be from relatively fresh talents. As a big time game enthusiast, I just really love video games and appreciate all aspects of them from the game specifics themselves to the communities and fans. I feel inspired every time I see the work that you all put into this and as someone who really really wants to break out and design a game himself and finds himself just in the "put an idea in a safe place" position, I guess I just really wanted to give a virtual brofist to everyone there living the dream.
Here's hoping you all do more than well with this game and I don't stay so scrubby when Super Skullgirls DLC comes around. :P :D
Here is something else to look out for:LOL'd at the Morigan palete. Definitely shows that Darkstalkers is one of the game's artistic influences.
- Game|Life podcast teases Skullgirls Soundtrack, DLC Skullguys, & possible PC Release (http://iplaywinner.com/news/2011/11/23/gamelife-podcast-teases-skullgirls-soundtrack-dlc-skullguys.html)
- Skullgirls appeared "On the Spot" (http://www.gamespot.com/video/on-the-spot-skullgirls-assassins-creed-revelations-6346311)
Leaked release date (http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2012/feb/09/ign-gamespot-skullgirls-release-date-end-march-both-xbox-360-and-ps3/)
March 31
Get hype!
Don't tell me that hideous THING is the roster's final inital character? If it is, any guess that it'd be the "Necrid" (Soul Calibur II) or Charade (SCII)/Okadan (or whatever that old owl guy's name in SCIII) of the cast?Not exactly, she's supposed to be a mix of every character, but besides the normal attacks, the specials are exclusive to her. If anything it be a sort of a Shang Tsung, but that's not very accurate either.
Also, [tornado fang] you Viacom.
Achievements announced~ (http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/skullgirls/achievements/)Time for me to play the wild guessing game! 8D
Which means the game will show up within the next few weeks! :cookie:
Well, if it's the NGPC prank, all I gotta say is.. FREE SPRITES, GRAB 'EM WHILE YA CAN!I'm guessing you saw the gender-bent fan-art of the cast they posted at their website recently, too. XD
And another thing, wouldn't the topic be changed to Abdomen = Fighting game PLUS Infinities MINUS Ladies on April Fools? That would've been crazy to hear of an all-star caste of an all-male hoedown that focuses on infinities as it's main gimmick. I would've loved to see how much Reverge Labs would've made a laugh outta that.
Ah, so she's just a cheap recycle character. I was expecting a bit more out of that, given her shape shifting ability could be used in a much more creative way, say like Arakune from BB.
I'm still trying to get "An Ensemble Cast" trophychievement. I tried using all kinds of team and assist combinations. >U<Good thing I got my corded controller back so I can unlock them myself and focus on getting better at chaining moves afterwards. So I'm making quick progress with Achievements
Posted on: April 13, 2012, 19:18:58
Nevermind, I got it~ :cookie: (http://www.trueachievements.com/game.aspx?gameid=4336&gamerid=284902)
And I'm first to complete it~ <3 (http://www.trueachievements.com/100club.aspx?gameid=4336&findgamerid=284902&dlcsetting=AllDLC)
In case no one got the joke, she was referring to Parasouls legs, thighs, and breasts. No wonder Parasoul gets annoyed by her sister...
Confirmed: Skullgirls is coming to PC via Steam, GamersGate, GameFly, GameStop PC Downloads and Origin (https://www.facebook.com/skullgirls/posts/339115689489265).[tornado fang]. YEAH.
Welcome to Lab Zero Games.http://shoryuken.com/2012/11/20/skullgirls-team-forms-lab-zero-games/
Forward-thinking and retro-minded, Lab Zero Games is an independent game development studio founded by the original team that brought you Skullgirls. Lab Zero intends to continue its critically-acclaimed work on Skullgirls as well as leverage its unique design and artistic sensibilities to develop new games.
As many of our fans know, Skullgirls had more than its fair share of difficulties getting to market, but thus far none have been quite this dire: last June, the entire Skullgirls team was laid off from Reverge Labs.
To try to prevent such calamities from befalling us, our games, or our fans again, the Skullgirls team decided to form its own studio.
Autumn Games, the publisher and owner of the Skullgirls property, is fully behind the new studio and will continue to work with us in the future on all Skullgirls-related endeavors, such as the just-released patch, more merchandise and a few other things we can’t quite announce yet.
…However, we are sad to report that these unfortunate circumstances have delayed the resumption of work on the PC version, and indefinitely delayed the first DLC character. Don’t take this as a sign that we’ve given up – we haven’t, and are doing everything in our power and then some to resume work on these as soon as possible. When we have more news, we’ll be sure to let you know.
So there you have it.
Not being able to tell anyone about these rather significant developments has almost been as bad as being largely unemployed and unable to continue our work on Skullgirls. We have always strived to be as open and transparent as our business and legal obligations will allow, but we feared news of these events would discourage our fans more than our conspicuous silence would. Being able to finally fill everyone in on everything is a huge relief, and we hope you understand our reasons for keeping quiet until now.
Everyone at Lab Zero would like to thank all of our amazing fans for their patience and support through this ordeal and as we (re)start on this new adventure. And even though this change was largely out of our control, the Skullgirls team still sincerely apologizes for the delays and lack of information in recent months.
We’re doing this for you, and we can’t wait to get back to work!
Until then,
Sincerely,
Lab Zero Games
-EDIT-
The game's finally up on the Japanese PS Store, surprisingly
I want to help too but it irks me when there's nothing I can do since my family's money is getting to house repairs and avoid ending up homeless in about 2 years, not that anyone understands my financial frustration...
This is like if the guy behind Black Lagoon made a femdom hentai. Wait, that happened. This is like if Medaka Box was drawn by a doujin artist. Oh, that happened too. This is like if my favorite hentai artist made a manga about Sega and Nintendo fighting each other as fantasy characters that got an anime adaptat-okay, so this isn't the weirdest news I've heard related to porn.Source: http://www.screwattack.com/news/pornographer-zone-joins-skullgirls-dev-group-lab-zero
ZONE, infamous internet flash artist and maker of many porn parodies of things you like, is a pretty big supporter of Lab Zero and their Skullgirls game. The cult fighter has been fighting hard to stay afloat and gain a larger tournament base, with a lot of problems getting in the way. They were pushed out of EVO in a drive due to SSB fans going into a massive donation wave (and being rather scummy dicks about it, but that's another story altogether), while plans to add new characters were put on hold due to money issues (although they did get an exibition tourney at EVO out of respect for their help in the donation drive). To try and fix this set back, the guys in charge decided to start an Indiegogo drive for their game in order to add a new character. It's nearly over and has been a huge success, gaining enough money to add two new characters and other extra features.
Part of the reason was due to the popular ZONE heavily supporting the project. See, he's a huge fan of the game, as you can tell from the really good porn he's made based off of it. It's honestly impressive how much he gets the art style down. Needing new animators and impressed by his work, even if it isn't exactly kid friendly, ZONE was hired on as an animator for the game, saying the following on Tumblr:Quote from: ZONE"I'm extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with such a talented team, and I hope that I can do good work for them. And no, I can't add any frames with nipples in them, sorry. I will make sure that parts jiggle as much as possible though."
Congrats go out to ZONE, proving that when it comes to nerdy things, a life supported by shameful hobbies can actually be rewarded if you do those shameful things well enough. While you're at it, donate to the Indiegogo page before the drive ends, linked above in the second paragraph.
For those they don't know Lab-Zero successfully funded not only their first DLC character Squigly, but also other 4 DLC characters and many other extra things like Bonus Stages, Extra Voices etc.Source: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.404836-So-Zone-tan-as-a-Playable-character-in-Skullgirls
But now I just learned just now an 6th character will come in the Skullgirls videogame.
(http://i.imgur.com/cupg7VM.png)
If you've been keeping track of Skullgirls news recently, you'll know that Squigly and several more DLC characters were funded thanks to the Indiegogo campaign. What you may not know is that in addition to that, I have donated $225,000 to Lab Zero in order to fund the development of ZONE-tan as a playable DLC character in Skullgirls.
One of the reasons why Squigly is taking so long is because we are developing ZONE-tan in tandem with her with plans to release them both simultaneously in around 2 months. Currently, she is still in very early development, although we have her idle and walk cycles completely colored, as well as one of her specials and most of her regular standing attacks. Since there is no need to audition for her, Caxx has also already been able to record all her vocal samples.
To get people hyped up, I'm providing you with a small content pack to show her off in her current state. Included in it are:
1) Screenshots of ZONE-tan in game, running on an early PC build of the game that also incorporates my vector UI (many other game elements are not yet implemented, e.g. BG sprites).
2) A character concept sheet for ZONE-tan explaining how she will play.
3) A sample of her voice pack, containing several sounds that she will use.
Sadly, because you understand why I don't have the download, you must search for yourself to see the .zip file and get it yourself!!!!
Is this... a joke?It's not a joke; ZONE is a huge fan of Skullgirls and contributed a lot during the Indiegogo campaign to help Lab Zero Games back on their feet.
Why would they do that?
It's not a joke; ZONE is a huge fan of Skullgirls and contributed a lot during the Indiegogo campaign to help Lab Zero Games back on their feet.Oh.
The Zone Tan thing is an April Fools joke ._______.:(
So I totally just came back from the realm of inactivity to tell RPM that Eliza is the one true path. Annie is the second path, but that's for next vote. Do me justice guys! :P
Why do I have to pay to vote? >8| I know I'm complaining over a mere a $1, but with the crap I am dealing with house repairs, I doubt I can walk up to my parents and ask "Can I use a dollar to vote on something for a video game I'm playing?" God, why does this have to get in my way all the time? It sucks... ;O;
At least we got a badass normal amongst the Lovecraftian cast.
Can I cry in that corner with you? ;_;
When's Annie?
I'm just making this post to catch up on time since my last RPM visit, but damn I still wanted my loli Dante. She had goddamned Precure Trigger!
Yeah, it sucks and I'm wondering why they would do this.
Its pretty obvious if you read the article, Konami's been less than friendly with getting patches online so the guys in charge of the game are getting a new Publisher.Chris is dumb, Clefi.
Jeez, Lab Zero has the worst the luck as indie game developera, don't they? First they got laid off by their former company, then got hit with a stupid lawsuit that didn't concern them by a mile, now this. This better not mean I have to pay full price for the game again on XBLA. At this rate for me it's PC or bust (boobs puns not intented).
The wait is almost over! Eliza will be releasing on NA PS3 and Worldwide PC via Steam next week on September 30! She'll be releasing the following day, October 1 on EU PSN.
As with all characters funded by the IndieGoGo campaign, Eliza will be free for three months from the day she releases on each respective platform. If you do not download her in that 3 month window her price will be increased to $5.00. However, if you did download her for free you will never have to pay for her.
In addition to Eliza's impending release, Lab Zero just confirmed that the long awaited PSN avatars will finally be released on the US PSN next week too! There'll be ten designs, all of which are a mystery until that date. There is no word on avatars for any other regions yet.
Responding to fan demand, the story modes for Skullgirls 2nd Encore will be fully voiced! Featuring some of anime’s best and brightest, the new voices bring Skullgirls’ deep characters and lore to life.
- Fully-voiced Story Mode
In challenges, players square off against opponents with a variety of unique battle conditions to test their mettle. Can you beat Big Band without jumping? Or defeat triple Doubles?
- Challenges
Trials test players’ skills by having them to perform combos. Trials are built on a new button-by-button instructional system to make learning combos easier and more intuitive than ever. Furthermore, unlike many fighting game trials, Skullgirls 2nd Encore’s trials include combos frequently used in real play, from basic bread ‘n butter to more advanced combos.
- Trials
Skullgirls 2nd Encore’s new Survival Mode pits players against an endless procession of foes – how long can you last? The better you do, the more health you’ll recover between rounds. The longer you last, the harder your foes will become.
- Survival Mode
For all the trophy hunters out there, Skullgirls 2nd Encore will have a full Platinum trophy set. The 43 trophies will test players’ mastery of Skullgirls and the new content. Many of the previous trophies are returning, while others have been adjusted based on player feedback.
- Full Platinum Trophy Set
To keep the online community from fragmenting, Skullgirls 2nd Encore supports cross-play across all three PlayStation platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita!
- Cross-Play Across the Entire PlayStation Family
Skullgirls 2nd Encore will support PlayStation 3 fight sticks on the PlayStation 4, thanks to the excellent work of our friend John “Cowboy” Bellomy. Just plug in your old stick and play!
- PlayStation 4 Version: PlayStation 3 Peripheral Support
They did say exclusive to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, so unless Autumn or Lab Zero can vouch for PlayStation 3 owners of the game like they did with getting them Skullgirls: Encore for owning the original version, chances are that seems to be case. Add another $400/200 if to 2nd Encore's asking price if you didn't already have a PlayStation 4 or Vita, or if they can't get 2nd Encore on PC.