Whoops, did I say “includes Noel’s ass?” I meant, “If you’re European and pre-order BlazBlue, you get an art book that happens to prominently feature Noel Vermillion’s ass.” Sorry for the confusion.
If you’re a fan of 2D fighters, and you missed last year’s excellent BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, there are only two excuses: Either you have a medical aversion to fast-paced, brilliantly slick in-your-face fighting games with extremely badass soundtracks, or you live in Europe. Despite being one of the best fighting games in years, BlazBlue sadly took its sweet time making its way over the Atlantic – but European gamers salivating over the title may be getting a reward for their patience, thanks to the newly-announced Limited Edition.
Joystiq has the specifics: The BlazBlue limited edition will include the two-hour instructional DVD that was in the North American special edition, aiming to teach newbies how to become pros. Where the European beats the pants off of its North American counterpart, though, is in the 100-page art book packaged with the game (and DVD).
While I’m sure that the book is filled with gorgeous, full-color illustrations of the brilliantly bizarre landscapes and characters that could only have come from the mind of mad genius Daisuke Ishiwatari, I find it kind of hilarious that the page seen in the promotional pictures is kind of, er, pandering to the game’s target demographic. Let’s take a closer look:
Okay, okay, I’m just giving them a hard time. After all, the game’s European cover art chosen by the NeoGAF community is just as much about showing off the *ahem* guns of NOL officer Noel Vermillion as anything seen in the art book. Probably.
The best part, and the part that makes this seem the most like a “whoops, our bad” for taking so long to release the game in Europe, is that the snazzy Limited Edition doesn’t cost any more than the normal edition – you just need to preorder the game in order to upgrade.
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is scheduled to hit Europe in mid-March, so if you want to get your hands on the art book and the DVD that teaches you how to do more with Jin Kisaragi other than just spam his ice car attack, then head on down and pre-order – or you could just do it online at any of these retailers: Amazon, GAME, GameStation, HMV, and Play.com.
Published: Feb 16, 2010 08:14 pm