Run for the hills, BlazBlue players! News is coming out of the very recent playtests of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2, an arcade update with the new characters Mu-12, Makoto, Valkenhayn, and Platinum plus balance changes nearly all around. There will be a console update for the PS3 and Xbox for these changes, of course the new characters are DLC. Longtime players might be shocked by the changes.

Copy pasta from Dustloop.com

"Ragna:
5D on grounded opponents no longer floats
3C is techable
5B>6A gattling is gone
Inferno Divider no longer has wall bounce
Belial edge doesn't bounce as high any more (can still follow up with a quick 5D)

Jin:
2C>5C gattling added (cannot re-input 2C)
B musou knocks down again [click read more for the rest]"

"Noel:
2C>5C gattling added (cannot re-input 2C)
j4D is damn fast. As if you can't see her falling from the air.
5D reduced invincibility frames

Rachel:
Overall damage increased
5B>2B gattling added
6A activation speed increased
6B on counter slides
6B jump cancel possible on block
2C hit stop increased
5C>C now slides. Mid screen C lobelia>3D> Sword iris/BBL combos. In corner 5C>C>3C can be done for 2 loops.
j2C can be canceled into attacks on landing
Lobeilas come out even when hit
George has been changed (there's a frog gauge now)
Tempest dahlia? what the heck is that? [i think he means it's been removed]

Tager:
Nothing known.
something about his collider mechanics being revised

Taokaka:
new jB, cat motion 2's animation for 2 hits
old jB is now j2B
taunt loop's been nerfed bad. it's now a joke.
drives are more stiff(?), increased hit stop.
health increase [i think.]


Arakune:
overall damage decreased
guarded drive moves give less curse meter

Litchi:
more gattlings without staff
6A with staff must be RC otherwise no followups available
4D slides. follow up possible in corner
6D's level(?) decreased. [maybe priority?]
jC without staff is now techable

Bang:
5B slower start up
2B slower start up
2B>5B gattling added. (cannot reinput 2B)
heavenly phoenix thrust no longer wall bounces for both air and ground
3C is techable
ashura slower start up, no more invincibility frames, has become a joke DD

Carl:
2B>5B gattling added cannot re-input 2B)
ada's gauge recovers slower

hakumen:
jD cannot be followed up
5D increased damage
[something about his yukikaze.]
other than that don't know much

Lambda:
5DD activation slowed
blade summonings are slower

Tsubaki:
5D instantly gives 1 stock, but holding down D gives a slightly slower charge speed
2D starts out slow but the charge speed rapidly increases. Also more stiff now.
jD charge speed increased
5B more strong
2BB>5BB gattlings added (Cannot re-input 2BB)
236A start up time increased, if comboed into cannot be follow up [i think.]
214A, B doesn't float opponent even when done by itself
623A on counter hit, untechable time decreased so cannot follow up
cannot cancel into any move from throw, throw slides. mid screen do 236D to follow up, in corner can follow up with normal combos.
after air throw timing for follow up attacks more strict

Hazama:
Ouroboros start up and move speed slowed (although it really feel like there's no difference)
Ouroboros gauge takes longer to recover
5B level reduced. If 5B>3C is not inputted with the fastest timing it won't combo.

Makoto:
parry cancel gone
5B faster start-up, can jump cancel even on block.

Valkenhayn:
cannot block or crouch in wolf form. cannot switch directions.

"Step Character" - has reasonable range. Good at follow-ups while doing damage.

cannot crouch/block in beast mode/ [something odd about walking left and right based on attack/throw? direction]

5A, 2A - small punches
5B - kick
2B - low kick
6A - some kind of knee kick
6B - some kind of mid attack
5C - ridiculously long kick; reaches far
6C - flying kick; hits mid ; feet invincible; no disadvantages even on guard; crushing attack
2C - anti-air kick; fast startup; crushing attack
3C - knockdown kick
j.A, j.B - par for the course
j.C - downward kick; even Slayer would be surprised how good this is.
236A - like "Hell's Fang" - slight advantage on hit
236B - has B-follow-up; low rush
236C - "Upper"-type rush; hits mid
Beast A - low clawing motion
Beast B - stabs upward; head invincible
Beast j.A - clawing motion
Beast j.B - rages about in mid-air
Beast C - goes airborne quickly
Beast 236A, 236B - wolf charge; A moves horizontally, B moves diagonally upward
Beast 236D - command throw, 2300 damage
632146D - like Chipp's FujiyamaGeisha super; left defenseless if all hits are guarded
j.236236C - Chokkagata Dandy
214214214D - Astral Heat ; launches opponent, transforms, [something happens involving moon]


As a Ragna player this hurts, this hurts so much. I love my 5b>6a (quick kick to launcher), I love it to death, I love 3c(sweep move). I'll especially miss Belial Edge and my floaty 5d. I think I just might cry! Well, Litchi and Bang have been spayed and neutered, Rachel has been amped back up, Tager...brace yourself, Jack...they're screwing with the Atomic Collider. Hazama can't fling his chain willy-nilly, Taokaka has to take things more seriously (no taunt loop), Carl has to wait a bit longer to play with his doll, Lambda stuck her swords in molasses, Tsubaki got a little bit of help, Makoto's parry loop is gone, and Hakumen...is still badass so far(wish I could learn to play him efficiently, need to practice my linking!).

Valkenhayn is looking fairly interesting, we finally have decent video of him in action.


Oh well, I suppose we'll see what the future holds, I'm going to hold a candlelight vigil for my 5b>6a.

I present to you choice moments from the king of fighters movie more proof that...
Fighting games should not be made into movies.
Fighting games should not be made into movies.
Fighting games should not be made into movies.

Fighting games should not be made into movies.

BlazBlue:Continuum Shift has gone gold in japan, due out on the first next month while the rest of us grind our fingernails to nubs waiting for it over here on the 27th. While we've been waiting there's been a trickle of news regarding DLC coming out around August.





Mokoto and Nu (v-12) are arriving as DLC characters. I'm interested in seeing the super ninja squirrel girl in action, but I'm baffled as to why they are tossing Nu back into the game since Lambda is so much better and less annoying vs ragna. Another piece of DLC is system narration by part of the cast, can you imagine Noel, Ragna, or Jin saying "The wheel of fate is turning!"

Also, someone released a video that shows off the challenge mode. Challenge mode lets you learn some useful combos for all the characters.



Damn, July can't come soon enough!

God damn, I hope they release this one to consoles.

I have to admit I almost refused to see Toy Story 3 on it's opening weekend. I'm a fan of Pixar, love their work. However, several things made me skeptic of it.



For starters, it's the 3rd movie, through my life it seems that on the odd occasion whenever I see a 3rd movie in a theater they seem to be an underwhelming experience. Some examples being Blade Trinity and Matrix Revolution.



The marketing, good lord the marketing. Of course, being a disney product, there is the massive glut of advertising. Toys, happy meals, toothbrushes, whole aisles at wal-mart, target, etc. Enough to make you sick. Along with seeing the assault for Shrek, that Train your Dragon whatzamahoozit, I can't buy a loaf of bread without seeing Buzz or Woody plastered on some display. If I was a bit smarter or well read, I would type up some spiel about kids advertising but you probably have enough rants about that rattling in your head already.

Somehow, I ended up at my local mall, looking for a decently priced used game (gamestop and the local used game/movie stores are damn crooks and/or supremely understocked). After that disappointment I winded up in line at the theater pondering between Get Him To The Greek or Toy Story 3. Picking the latter, I walked into the theater full of families with surprisingly non-screaming kids, weird. The pre-show thing assaulted everyone with ads for toys, new cartoon networks shows, and the official Toy Story 3 video game. Then the lights dimmed for the trailers, christ. Just horrible horrible cliched kid movie trailers that I hope that I don't remember completely. Some CGI Rapunzel thing, loser wolf gets hot chick wolf, CGI smurfs, the only one I found slightly interesting was Mastermind (Will Ferrell voices a wanna be supervillain against a superman clone, the “Lois Lane” being voiced by Tina Fey). But finally we get to the new Pixar short “Day & Night”, a well done piece that really reminds me of the old Chuck Jones cartoons. It has a neat little message in the end.

Finally the main feature. Fans of the series will be pleasantly surprised to see a “new vision” of the original opening scene from the first movie, followed by clips of home videos shot by Andy's mom fast forwarding to the present. Andy's getting ready to go off to college, leaving an uncertain future for the remainder of Andy's toys. This leads them to their next big adventure, daycare. Everything flows smoothly, plenty of stuff to chuckle at and think about. The new toys are cool, there's even a Totoro cameo (I gotta get one of those...and an evil monkey). I have to say I think this makes a perfect end to the Toy Story movies, definitely worth seeing, I'm glad I fought through my expectations to see it.

Spread the oil and love to all the brothers and sisters, aw yea.