PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Message Board older than one year ago

Penny Arcade Expo (also known as PAX) has become one of the biggest celebrations of video games, video game developers, and video game players in the world. We’re excited to attend the show this year to show off PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale to the masses. To give you a sneak peek at some of the content you’ll be able to play on the show floor, we’re actually unveiling one of our new characters a little early. Lucky you!

We’re excited to finally announce the addition of Konami’s Raiden from the Metal Gear Solid series to our roster! Raiden’s appearance in PlayStation All-Stars marks the first time he has been playable in a fighting game, so we hope you’re all as hyped as we are to finally see him in action against the likes of Dante, Kratos, Heihachi, Cole MacGrath and other high-profile fighters. With his high-frequency blade and cyborg ninja abilities, how does he stack up against the rest of the cast?

Raiden is a close-ranged fighter who is capable of building tremendous amounts of AP with various combos and juggles. He uses a special chain-attack system that lets him branch off into different combo attacks depending on the string of attacks input by the player. He has plenty of ways to both start and end combos, whether they be on the ground or in mid-air. Raiden can also defend against attackers attempting to interrupt his combos from behind with reverse stabs and parries, which is useful in a four-player free-for-all. In true Metal Gear Solid fashion, Raiden’s super attacks allow him to take full advantage of his slicing abilities by requiring players to use the right analog stick to perform lethal slices to swiftly dispatch adversaries. Check out our latest character video to see Raiden in action, and let us know what you think.

We’re also announcing our newest stage, Time Station! At gamescom we announced the inclusion of Ape Escape’s Spike to our roster, and with him comes this old-school stage where players will engage in battle. Fans might remember Time Station as the central hub that connects the different levels of Ape Escape together. You can also find the diabolical Specter in the background, up to no good as usual. What kind of mischief will he cause for those battling in Time Station?

That’s all for now, but we’ll have even more news for you once we get to PAX, where we’ll be unveiling even more All-Star fighters. Lots of exciting stuff this week, and we’re looking forward to chatting with you at the show. We’d love to hear what you think, so be sure to stop by our kiosks at the PlayStation booth, where all of our new characters will be playable. See ya there!

Yo PlayStation.Blog readers! Gamescom is finally upon us, and you know what that means: time for some highly anticipated Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale reveals!

We’re thrilled to announce the inclusion of Insomniac’s Ratchet and Clank in PlayStation All-Stars! Given the wealth of tools and gadgets at their disposal, it made perfect sense to us to include them in our roster. This duo is strongest at mid-range, and they can cut off many points of entry with varied angles of attack. We made sure that iconic Ratchet and Clank weapons such as the Combusto Pistol, the R.Y.N.O., and Tesla Spikes are available for players to utilize on the battlefield. Clank joins in on the fight wielding his powerful Chronoscepter, and even Mr. Zurkon can be summoned to lend a hand!

Also joining the cast is Spike from Sony Computer Entertainment’s franchise Ape Escape — a character that was on our radar from early on. We here at the studio have fond memories of the original Ape Escape on the PlayStation, which was revolutionary at the time for introducing unique gameplay elements facilitated by the first Dual Shock controller. The Ape Escape series has cemented itself in PlayStation’s history, and it’s our pleasure to have Spike as part of our roster. He’s a well-rounded character that can compete at close range, or from a distance with traps and projectiles, including the classic R.C. Car. He comes brandishing not only his signature stun clubs, but also peculiar gadgets, crazy weapons, and, of course, apes!

Dante from Capcom’s Devil May Cry has also made his way into PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale! It was imperative that a character with such a rich history and dazzling play style was part of the cast, and Dante fans can finally pit their favorite demon hunter against heavy hitters like Kratos and Heihachi. Dante’s offensive capabilities and mobility allow players to be creative in their assault, ensuring Devil May Cry fans will feel right at home hacking, slashing, and shooting their rivals into oblivion with devastating weaponry and stylish combos.

Lastly, we are pleased to announce that Media Molecule’s Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet is joining the rumble! Fans have been clamoring for his inclusion in our roster, and we’re more than happy to oblige. We had a panoply of items and gadgets to draw inspiration from in forming Sackboy’s moves for our game, so we eventually decided we’d give him a quirky and curious moveset that makes him stand out from the rest of the cast. He can produce various objects, gadgets, and tools that have varying effects when in play, affording him a distinct playstyle that is likely to catch foes off guard. Sackboy can pester enemies from a distance with his Cakeinator, and bounce them back to a non-threatening distance with a bounce pad!

We are also excited to show you our newest level, Stowaways, taken straight from one of the more frantic sequences in Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Stowaways is a unique stage that forces players to adapt to both long-range and close-quarters combat. The environment is constantly moving and changing, benefiting those who can quickly adapt. As usual, players can expect this Uncharted-themed level to be mashed up with elements from another franchise — which will it be this time?

We’re also really excited about the promotional pricing announcement for PlayStation All-Stars that was made at today’s press conference. For all of you that purchase the PlayStation 3 version of PlayStation All-Stars – at retail or digitally through the PlayStation Network – you will be able to download the PS Vita version of PlayStation All-Stars from the PS Network at no additional cost. How awesome is that?!? Now you’ll be able to experience all of the great cross-save and cross-play features that PlayStation All-Stars has to offer on both the PS3 and PS Vita at one great price. So if you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, perhaps this news will pique your interest.

That’s all for now! We appreciate the continued support for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale from the fans. We still have plenty more surprises in store for everyone between now and our November 20 release date, so keep checking back for more news!

Hello PlayStation Nation. As you know, we at SuperBot have set high benchmarks for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Our goal is to deliver a fun, well-balanced, and compelling gameplay experience that pays homage to all of these incredible characters.

We also know our fans have high expectations for this title, and to that end, we have decided to move the release date to November 20th, 2012 for North America (including Canada) and Latin America territories. This will let us spend more time polishing and tuning the game, and it will give us a chance to incorporate some of the great feedback we’re receiving from the current limited beta to ensure we are creating the best possible fighting game experience. While it is our greatest desire to put this game into the hands of our fans as soon as possible, we do not want to do so at the sake of quality. The additional time will be well worth the wait, and are excited to know that our fans will have the ultimate brawler in time for the holiday.

Keep an eye on next week’s GamesCom, as we’ve lined up some big announcements that we’re sure you’ll be excited about.

Thanks again for all of your support and understanding!

Word is the PlayStation Blog had a post up about Battle Royale being delayed for a brief moment before removing it.

We’re back on PlayStation.Blog this week to share our next two character combat videos for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Today, we’re examining strategies for Fat Princess and Sly Cooper with Game Director Omar Kendall.

Fat Princess, much like Sweet Tooth, is a character who has never found herself participating directly in battle, so one of the challenges for us was to design her play style from the ground up. Her design has gone through radical changes — at one point, we had plans for her to grow larger depending on the amount of cake she ate mid-battle. We made sure to follow character guidelines provided by the producer, one of which is the fact that Fat Princess isn’t actually aware of her weight. We incorporated this into her play style by giving her these graceful ballerina pirouette attacks.

Her loyal villagers are, of course, a key weapon in her arsenal. There were a lot of questions raised from the start: should we let her villagers do the fighting while Fat Princess hangs out in the back? Should they be carrying her on their shoulders throughout the battle, forcing them to work as a team? We ended up choosing an assist-style design in which different classes of villagers — including the Worker, Mage and Warrior — come to Fat Princess’ aid briefly for a quick attack.

Players looking for a heavy-duty combo-heavy character need look no further than Fat Princess. She can perform long combos, starting with her scepter attacks (Square) and ending with her ballerina attacks (Triangle). Her villagers can be used as cover to set up her offense, or to strike at angles and ranges that she otherwise cannot, as demonstrated by the Mage (Circle or Up + Circle). Her villagers also lend their support for her more powerful Supers, with her level 2 Super summoning a Mage that transforms into a giant chicken, and her level 3 summoning numerous villagers to fill the screen with chaos.

Thanks to our combat designer Ray Ray Shen, the beloved Master Thief is now a fierce competitor in PlayStation All Stars. Sly’s charisma and personality are so strong that his play style pretty much creates itself. In PlayStation All-Stars, he continues his thievius ways and relies on stealth, agility, and tricks to thwart his foes. Sly’s design draws from all of the previous Sly titles, including the newest installment Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time. Those who are familiar with the Thievius Raccoonus will feel right at home with Sly’s abilities. Going invisible? Doing a mega jump? Blocking projectiles with a barrel? No problem! Certain familiar gadgets have also been tweaked to serve the combat scenarios of a fighting game, such as the Smoke Bomb on Down + Triangle. To get out of enemies’ sights, Sly drops a Smoke Bomb with his cane and instantly teleports to a desirable location.

In terms of play style, Sly operates much differently than the rest of the cast. He loses the ability to block or roll in exchange for invisibility. Holding down L1 grants him stealth, allowing him to sneak around the battlefield undetected. As a Master Thief, Sly also has the exclusive ability to steal opponents’ AP with his Neutral Square cane swipes. Players who like a mischievous, tricky play style will feel right at home playing as Sly Cooper. As a treat for all loyal Sly fans, you will get some help from Sly’s gang as well! Murray, Carmelita and Bentley are ready to assist you any time that Super bar is filled up! How you choose to utilize Sly’s diverse arsenal is entirely up to you.

Hey! It’s Paul Edwards, Lead Combat Designer at SuperBot. I’m here to shed some light on Sweet Tooth’s character design, as we continue our PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale character series.

Sweet Tooth has always been closely associated with vehicular combat, rather than hand-to-hand fighting, so when shaping his playstyle we had to rely on his distinct personality and image. Fortunately, we had direct input from the talented Twisted Metal team (including the man himself, Twisted Metal creator/game director David Jaffe), and we were able to get a great deal of constructive feedback from them through rigorous playtesting. We also had early access to the newest iteration of Twisted Metal when it was being developed — we drew inspiration for his level 2 super from the new “Nuke Mode” that was introduced in the game.

Sweet Tooth has always had this sort of campy B-movie feel to him, which led us to thinking we should have him use the PS3 controller as a weapon in his super. We played around with a few ideas for his level 3, and even considered allowing players to drive around in his signature ice-cream truck. We ultimately felt that Sweet-Bot — another piece from the newest Twisted Metal game — would be the best fit for his ultimate attack.

Sweet Tooth is a huge bruiser — he’s all about big, powerful attacks that often make his opponents go flying. He initially had a large degree of combo ability using his melee attacks, but we decided that didn’t really fit with his physique or playstyle. Instead, he likes to pick his battles, come through with a quick burst of power, then move on to the next opportunity (which isn’t very different from his style in Twisted Metal). Moves like the chainsaw, flame breath, and molotov cocktail really fit his character. We took the mines from Twisted Metal and included them in his arsenal as well. We considered giving him the classic freeze missile too, but opted to make it a usable item instead.

Check out his attacks and more in today’s PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale strategy video!

It has been a rhythmic ride to design PaRappa’s gameplay in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale! To pay homage to such an iconic and beloved character, I made sure to do my homework first. Besides thoroughly replaying PaRappa’s games, I also checked out his soundtrack, anime, merchandise and advertisements to get a full sense of his appeal.

PaRappa is unique not only because of his paper-like look, but also because of his passion and determination. Without crazy magical powers or heavy weaponry, PaRappa’s moveset is based on his energetic, rapid kung-fu moves, his funky skateboard skills and his love of music. To add an extra flourish, incorporated his biggest crush and motivation in life, Sunny Funny, into some of his actions. PaRappa’s groovy charm definitely gives the gameplay a lighthearted spin, such as when he has Boxy Boy generating AP on Down + Circle and asks everyone to join his concert with his screen-clearing level 3 Super!

We suspected that PaRappa would be a popular character choice from the start, so he was designed to be accessible for new players but deep enough for advanced players. He functions similarly to a foil by being playful and hip, contrasting Kratos’ menacing demeanor and brutal fighting style. We experimented with adding different elements into PaRappa’s playstyle and even considered giving him “assist” style attacks where his friends, such as PJ Berry and Um Jammer Lammy, would help him on the battlefield. However in the end, we decided to put the spotlight back on PaRappa himself. In PlayStation All-Stars’s battlefield his beanie, skateboard, microphone, Boxy Boy and rhymes form the pillars of his colorful and recognizable moves. His speed, agility and quickness allow him to approach and engage opponents at his own pace effectively.

When PaRappa’s in the house, everybody’s gotta watch out! Are you ready to BELIEVE? Then get a head start on PlayStation All-Stars by checking out some of his moves in the video!

Hi everyone! I’m responsible for bringing everyone’s favorite Spartan warrior, Kratos from God of War, into our world of ultimate crossover fighting with PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. SuperBot Entertainment was incubated within Sony Santa Monica Studio, and their feedback and involvement ensured Kratos’ transition from his game to ours was smooth. One of the biggest challenges was taking this immensely powerful god-killing character from a single-player game and try to balance that design within a multiplayer fighting game.

To get you a better feel for Kratos’ combat strategies ahead of the public beta later this fall, we’ve enlisted SuperBot’s Game Director Omar Kendall and PlayStation.Blog’s Sid Shuman to give you a breakdown of Kratos!

We wanted to pay proper homage to Kratos, so the approach we took was to have his playstyle reflect some of the most iconic weapons in God of War, such as the Blades of Chaos and Apollo’s Bow. And we wanted his Supers to revolve around his ultimate weapon, the Blade of Olympus, and even have him grow in size to pay homage to his initial transformation into the God of War. As a result, Kratos is primarily a short-to-midrange fighter that has high combo potential. We knew Kratos would be a very popular character to play as by a wide arrange of different players, so we wanted him to be a simple character to pick up for beginners while having a lot of depth for more advanced players to explore.

But that’s not all! Colonel Radec from Killzone 2 is an iconic PlayStation villain who will also feature in PlayStation All-Stars as a playable character thanks to the efforts of Senior Combat Designer Edward Ma who was responsible for Radec’s character design in our game.

Radec was one of the first six characters we created, and he’s focused on long-range combat. We’re big fans of the Killzone series and wanted to include as many of the signature weapons as we could in PlayStation All-Stars. In Killzone 2, Radec wields unique Helghast tools such as his cloaking technology and combat knife, so we made sure to incorporate those abilities in his PlayStation All-Stars appearance. In our new video above, Omar breaks down key Radec strategies so players can get a head start on the competition!

We designed Radec’s gameplay around the idea that he is this character who controls certain spaces very well; namely, the entire horizontal space in front of him as well as the diagonal spaces in front of him. His VC32 Sniper Rifle (Forward + Triangle) and his VC21 Boltgun (Neutral + Circle) are two of his main weapons for controlling space far out in front of him. Opponents who try to close in to avoid these projectiles will either block them (free AP for Radec!) or jump over/roll through them. That’s where Radec’s other moves come in handy. Moves such as the TR-X Teslite Grenade (Forward + Circle) and the Grenade Drop (Down + Square) create an obstacle course for incoming opponents to fight through when thrown out preemptively. Being strongest at far range, he’s definitely weakest at close range when compared to most of the cast, so his limited melee attacks are meant to push opponents back out if they manage to close in on his position.

Stay tuned! We’ll have more PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale strategy videos to share soon. Which character are you most excited to play as? Let us know in the comments!

Hey everyone! Last week, SuperBot Entertainment and PlayStation invited a small group of players to get a hands-on preview of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale as part of our early development beta. We’re beginning to test our servers and connectivity issues and this is just the beginning as we work toward rolling out a public beta to the entire PlayStation nation this Fall. As part of this exclusive access, players were able to take control of characters such as Kratos, Sweet Tooth, PaRappa the Rapper, Colonel Radec, Sly Cooper, and Fat Princess and battle in environments such as Dreamscape, Metropolis, Sandover Village, and Hades. The feedback we’re receiving from beta testers has been highly encouraging and valuable, helping us craft the best online multiplayer fighting experience possible.

In addition, there was an unexpected and unintended leak in our beta that allowed fans to be able to see some additional content. We’ve enjoyed reading all of the fan reaction and are thrilled that so many of you are excited to learn more our character roster and level mash-ups, however we are still in development and the leaked content does not fully represent the final product nor the incredible efforts that were made to make these elements truly spectacular. This will be evident in the coming weeks as this content is officially revealed, beginning with our next character announcement at Gamescom in a couple of weeks.

While just a small group now, in the coming weeks we will continue to send out batches of codes as we gradually expand the beta; so keep your eyes open. You just might receive an invitation to join! Keep checking back with the blog for more information around the public beta, starting with early access to PlayStation Plus members.

If you’re having this much fun with the game now, we think you’re going to be thrilled with all the great stuff coming in the final product!

It looks like some carefully laid marketing plans got burned over the weekend as some interested parties with access to the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale beta have done a bit of digging through the beta's files and uncovered a mess of unannounced content, from characters to background stages.

Folks posting on Reddit and NeoGAF started getting deep into this stuff on Saturday and uncovered the following additions to the game's already announced playable roster.

• Dante (Devil May Cry)
• Evil Cole (InFamous)
• Nariko (Heavenly Sword)
• Raiden (Metal Gear Solid)
• Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet)
• Ratchet (Ratchet & Clank)
• Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil)
• Spike (Ape Escape)

Unannounced background stages were also discovered, including one based on BioShock Infinite's floating city, Columbia, and an Uncharted stage that appears to have players jumping across a series of trucks that are falling out of the back of an airplane. GameSpot has compiled a list of the other uncovered information, including a list of items and unplayable minion characters. GameSpot also contacted Sony, who had no comment on the authenticity of the files. They are, however, totally authentic.

So how does something like this happen? We'll probably never know the whole story, but I bet the people responsible for removing references to unannounced content before packing up the beta are probably hating life right about now. It'll be interesting to see if Sony goes for the old Capcom play of pretending that the leaks never happened and meting out the rest of the roster at Gamescom, PAX, and other similarly opportune points for info distribution.

Now that this next (and presumably last) chunk of the playable character roster is out there, how do you feel about PlayStation All-Stars? Seems like a good group with some nice third-party inclusions, but it's sort of surprising that there's no Crash Bandicoot on the list. Well... there's always DLC, right?

On the last day of Comic-Con, we were fortunate enough to have a PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale panel for the fans! Moderated by the one and only Greg Miller, the panel started with SuperBot‘s very own Chan Park and Omar Kendall explaining the studio’s beginnings and its affinity towards the PlayStation universe and the fighting game genre. They then fielded questions from an eager audience, detailing various tidbits regarding the game including DLC plans, roster creation, stage hazards, level mash-ups, and game modes. The crowd was also presented with several videos to showcase the game, including trailers featuring our newest additions Cole MacGrath and Jak and Daxter. These reveals were met with overwhelming enthusiasm, which is great because we have plenty more where that came from!

As Comic-Con comes to an end, we are pleased to say that PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale made a big splash at the convention and we plan to continue the trend at all of our up-and-coming events. As we get closer to our October 23rd release date, stay tuned for more news and reveals!

We hope everyone had a great time in San Diego at Comic-Con! The convention seems to get bigger every year (not sure how that’s possible), and this year was especially exciting for SuperBot since it gave us a chance to reveal the newest additions to the roster for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale!

Today at Comic-Con, the SuperBot team led a lively discussion panel that gave attendees a sneak peek at the development of PlayStation All-Stars. Alongside our very own Chan Park and Omar Kendall, IGN.com’s Greg Miller joined us as a moderator to explore how the team created our super roster of PlayStation characters and environments for the ultimate cross-over brawler. In addition, they discussed alternate costume decisions, some of the different game modes available, and the concept of the “mash-up.” But of course the highlight of the panel was unveiling two new, highly anticipated additions to the roster. We are pleased to announce the inclusion of Jak and Daxter and Cole MacGrath in PlayStation All-Stars!

Initially debuting on PS2 in 2001, Naughty Dog’s Jak and Daxter series has seen critical acclaim and success, spawning multiple titles on PS2, PS3, and PSP. Fans have enjoyed Jak and Daxter’s signature style and varied gameplay, so we considered them prime candidates for our game. Jak and Daxter are beastly on the Battle Royale battlefield; they’ve definitely been my go-to pair lately here at the studio!

Players familiar with Jak and Daxter’s arsenal will immediately recognize some of the weaponry utilized in PlayStation All-Stars including the Blaster, Needle Lazer, Gyro Burster, and Mass Inverter. When the going gets tough, Jak has the ability to unleash the powers of both Dark and Light Jak to even the playing field, as seen in Jak II and Jak 3 respectively. Daxter even lends a hand in Jak’s melee attacks.

Representing the PlayStation franchise inFAMOUS from Sucker Punch Studios, Cole MacGrath proves to be an unlikely hero with extraordinary powers, so it made perfect sense to us for him to be in the ring alongside some of PlayStation’s heaviest hitters.

Cole takes advantage of a wide array of abilities in inFAMOUS, an experience we hoped to emulate when incorporating him into the game. He is a well-rounded fighter who is effective at both close and long range combat, and is highly mobile as well. Players can command both his electrokinesis and cryokinesis, using these powers to assault opponents from a safe distance or propel himself towards the action. With these abilities, Cole proves to be a formidable adversary for the rest of the PlayStation All-Stars cast!

We’re always excited to share new information about the game, so we hope you’ve enjoyed the reveals so far. We still have lots more to unveil before our October 23, 2012 launch date so don’t forget to pre-order your copy and you’ll be hearing from us again soon. Until next time!

Infiltration’s victory in the 2012 Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition finals late Sunday night marked the close of EVO 2012, the annual championship that sees international fighting game experts compete in top fighters like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, , and Tekken 6. This year, SuperBot Entertainment attended the competition to show off the PS3 and PS Vita versions of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, the studio’s upcoming love letter to PlayStation history and the fighting game genre.

PlayStation All-Stars’ EVO showing included a chance to sample newly announced characters Heihachi and Toro. Intitially, I had the most luck with Toro, using his deadly Mochi bombs, shuriken blasts, and comical bicycle kicks to torment foes from a safe distance. But despite his adorable appearance and goofy combat style, Toro is no lightweight. He’s a versatile, nuanced fighter thanks to three fighting stances that enable him to alternate between close-range attacks (Justice stance), wide crowd control (Oni stance), and long-range strikes (Torobi stance). His Supers are no slouch, either: Level one sends Toro flying forward to plow through nearby foes, level two dumps a falling star into the middle of the screen, and level three scores an automatic kill against every opponent on the screen as Toro lashes out in a Mochi-spattered rage.

“Toro can change fighting styles… it’s essentially a stance system. He actually has more than twice the number of moves of the other characters because each stance represents an entirely different move set.” — Omar Kendall, Game Director, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Heihachi, meanwhile, excels in traditional close-range encounters. With his easy combo strings and trademark Demon Godfist uppercuts, Heihachi is a juggling machine capable of racking up loads of AP in short order. He’s also one of the few characters with a melee counter, which gives him an edge against other brawlers such as Big Daddy and Parappa. His Supers are eccentric but effective, beginning with a basic short-range unblockable hammer fist at level one and progressing to a devastating bear bodyguard (Kuma from Tekken) at level two. For his level three Super, Heihachi straps all three opponents to a missile and launches them into orbit — dude, harsh.

“At SuperBot, we’re huge fans of fighting games and I don’t think there’s any fighting game series that is more closely associated with PlayStation than Tekken. Heihachi is a great fit and he makes total sense.”
– Omar Kendall, Game Director, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Meanwhile, on the OLED screen, All-Stars looked virtually indistinguishable from its PS3 big brother. The PS Vita version rendered densely detailed characters, boisterous backgrounds, and an ultra-fluid framerate. Thanks to the development attentions of Bluepoint Games, the PS Vita version also sports an array of minor tweaks and enhancements aimed at portable pugilists, from the small (touch controls on menus) to the large (markers to help identify characters in wide camera angles). You can use the left analog stick or d-pad to control the action, and trigger those all-important Supers by pressing L and R together.

The game also supports Vita-to-PS3 crossplay support for multiplayer matches via Wifi. The crossplay feature was a pleasant surprise, based on my hands-on experiences, and it points to a future where portable gamers and console gamers can meet as equals. I played a series of four-player matches using crossplay, and the two PS3s and two Vitas coordinated the chaos without a single hitch. The future is now!

”We’re really happy with the PS Vita version, especially that it’s running at 60 frames per second with full crossplay support. I have to give credit to the guys at Bluepoint Games. They’re doing an amazing job.”
– Omar Kendall, Game Director, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Elsewhere at EVO, the SuperBot crew presented the technical side of the game in a panel targeted at hardcore fighting game fans. PlayStation All-Stars fighters don’t have traditional health meters; instead, they attack opponents in order to build up energy, which they unleash in the form of several Super moves. Though you can’t block Super attacks, you can avoid many of them if you’re quick: SuperBot demonstrated a rolling technique that makes your character briefly invulnerable.

”You’re not whittling down life bars, you’re building up energy, or AP. The more damage you do, the more AP you gain. So it’s all about unleashing these Supers, which are essentially one-hit kills that score you points.” — Omar Kendall, Game Director, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

The EVO panel confirmed that the final game will support 1v1 and 2v2 team modes in addition to the default free-for-all mode, while an “infinite combo avoidance” system will prevent unstoppable combos. The developers also discussed the game’s grappling system, which presents players with several throw options: up, down, and lateral, with each choice presenting certain strategic benefits depending on your play style. Initiating a vertical throw, for example, gives you a chance to execute a juggle combo and score more AP.

After the panel, SuperBot also took time to field community questions regarding character customization (“there are definitely a lot of unlocks in the game”) and future guest characters (“there will be a combination of first-party [PlayStation] and third-party characters”) to netcode (“it feels fundamentally different…we don’t slow the whole game down to compensate for lag”).

One attendee asked about the studio’s plans for a final boss battle, and though Kendall confirmed that the game will feature a final boss, he admitted that the studio wasn’t ready to share who, exactly, it is. “Stay tuned,” he added. “For fans of PlayStation, our final boss will make a lot of sense.”

This weekend the SuperBot team and I are here in Las Vegas at the annual Evolution Championship Series. In addition to checking out some of the best fighting games in the community and the heated competition between the fans, we’re also here to make a very special announcement. Tonight during an Exhibition Presentation, we are excited to announce two new challengers in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale – Heihachi Mishima and Toro Inoue!

Hailing from the ever-popular Tekken series, the original mastermind behind the Mishima Zaibatsu joins the battle! Making his first appearance on the PSX in 1995, Heihachi is one of only five characters to appear in every iteration of Tekken thereafter, brawling his way through 17 years of King of Iron Fist tournaments. Heihachi fans will feel right at home with this newest interpretation.

Familiar moves such as his Electric Wind God Fist and Twin Pistons are intact and as deadly as ever. He excels at close-range combat, overwhelming opponents with quick, powerful strikes. Heihachi’s combo potential ranks among the best in the roster, turning every encounter into a stylish martial arts exhibition. Though the battlefield has changed, Heihachi brings his signature fighting style and brutal attacks to PlayStation All-Stars!

Toro Inoue, also known as the Sony Cat, has been a faithful mascot to Sony in Japan for over a decade! He has made appearances in numerous video games spanning several different Sony consoles and is a welcome addition to our roster. Though appearing to be simply a cute feline, the warrior within proves to be as formidable as the next.

Toro brings a unique stance-based fighting style to PlayStation All-Stars, affording him several different sets of attacks to utilize in combat. He transitions seamlessly from a close-range fighter in his Justice form, to a ranged specialist in his Torobi form, to an effective wide-area controller in his Oni form. All the while, Toro’s fun-loving charm comes through in every action he performs. Be sure to check him out!

Finally, we are pleased to announce our newest stage, Dojo! Fans of the original Parappa the Rapper on the PSX will immediately recognize this kung-fu dwelling, which is where Parappa originally acquired his martial arts arsenal from Chop Chop Master Onion. However, not everything is as it seems in the city; could danger be looming ahead?

For those of you who are here in Vegas participating in the tournaments, you can now go hands-on with these new characters at our booth in the Tournament Hall starting Saturday morning when the booth opens at 8AM. So be sure to swing by.

That’s it for now! We have plenty more information coming in the near future, so stay tuned for more reveals to come as we get closer to October 23, 2012! Don’t forget to pre-order your copy!

It’s only been a few weeks since E3, and the Internet has been set ablaze with anticipation for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale! We announced new fighters Nathan Drake and Big Daddy, and that PlayStation All-Stars will have a PlayStation Vita release when it launches later this year – so you’ll be able to take the battle with you on the go, or experience cross-platform matches against your friends whether you’re playing on PS3 or PS Vita.

We’ve been thrilled to hear all of the great responses to the news about the game so far, and have been reading all of your questions and comments on the blogs and forums. While we’ll get to answering all of them soon enough, today we’re going to be answering a couple of the more popular ones: “Why pre-order?” and “When is the game coming out?”

Aside from making sure you’ve got a copy on day one, pre-ordering will snag you an exclusive set of costumes for all of the characters in the game! Here are the outfits for the roster so far, but be sure to check back in with us later when we unveil them all.

We’ve revealed eight characters already, but you’ll have to wait until our announcement later today to see who else will be in the ring. We will be unveiling two new characters during our Exhibition Presentation at EVO in Las Vegas this evening at 6:00pm PST. So if you’re in town for the tournament, stop by and check us out or tune in to the PS.Blog for more information.

When the game launches, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to unlock multiple costumes for each character, but these exclusive costumes will only be available if you pre-order. And yes, they’ll be available right when you start playing the game!

I’ll leave you with one last update: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will be launching on October 23rd, 2012! We’ll have plenty more details on the game — including pricing for both the PS3 and PS Vita versions — soon enough, but we wanted to give you a date to mark on your calendars. Be sure to head over to a participating retailer to reserve your copy today!

We know fans have been hungry for more information about PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale after E3, so it’s time to deliver! We’re excited to announce that we will be participating in the annual Evolution Championship Series (EVO) taking place this weekend from July 6-8 at Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As PlayStation’s premier crossover fighting game, we will be participating in a number of activities throughout the weekend. If you’re going to be in town, we’d love for you stop by and join us to check out the latest and greatest from PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

First up, on Friday, July 6th, we will be showcasing the game on the main stage of the tournament hall at 6:00pm Pacific Time. You won’t want to miss this special presentation as we’ll be unveiling our newest All-Stars (along with a few other surprises) in a live exhibition by the SuperBot team! We also invite you to join us for our panel presentation on Saturday, July 7th at 2:00pm. Straight from the developer, Superbot Entertainment, Omar Kendall, Paul Edwards, Tommy Ho, Artavan Mhkikian, Edward Ma, and Daniel Maniago (that’s me!) will be discussing the finer points of the game engine as well as answering fan questions.

Of course, EVO attendees can come get hands-on time with PlayStation All-Stars Battle
Royale at the PlayStation booth in the exhibit hall throughout the weekend. Check it out on the
PS3 and experience true cross-play with the PS Vita. Fans will even get a chance to play all-new content following our announcement on Friday evening. So come visit us and give the game a try! On top of that, players that register in the booth will receive a free month of PS Plus (while supplies last) and the chance to win 1 of 10 PSAS copies at release!

Below are the details on all of our activities at the show. We look forward to seeing you there.

EXHIBITION: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Exhibition Presentation
Friday, July 6 | 6:00 – 6:15pm
Augustus Ballroom – Main Stage (Caesars Palace Hotel)

PANEL: SuperBot Entertainment: Here Comes A New Challenger
Saturday, July 7 | 2:00 – 3:30pm
Emperors Ballroom (Caesars Palace Hotel)
SuperBot Entertainment will be showing off its new game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle
Royale, at EVO 2012! Omar Kendall, Edward Ma, Paul Edwards, Tommy Ho, Artavan
Mkhikian, and Daniel Maniago will be giving a detailed rundown on the technical aspects of
the game engine as well as answer any questions that players might have. Join us for the inside
scoop!

BOOTH: PlayStation Booth
Friday, July 6: 8:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday, July 7: 8:00am – 6:00pm
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale hands-on gameplay – PS3, PS Vita and Cross-Play.
Augustus Ballroom – Tournament Hall (Caesars Palace Hotel)

Just because Seth Killian has left Capcom doesn’t mean he’s leaving behind fighting games forever, as the newly announced Sony Santa Monica employee has already been assigned to work on and promote PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Killian revealed his new home on the PlayStation Blog. His new title is lead game designer at Sony Santa Monica, and his office is right around the corner from the teams working on God of War: Ascension and The Unfinished Swan.

If you've talked to Killian anytime recently, he's constantly singing the praises of independent game developers, so it's not shocking he's stoked to be working with a studio like Giant Sparrow.

"There are other amazing studios in the world, but nowhere else that I know where you can find that kind of diversity combined with such a deep commitment to greatness,” he wrote in his introduction to Sony fans.

It’s unclear how much of an impact Killian could have on the design of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale this late in development. That being said, having an EVO finalist and someone who worked closely with the Capcom teams as Superbot Entertainment tweaks and balances its take on Super Smash Bros. is A Very Good Thing.