Hey guys, it's Vampt Vo. Sorry for the lack of a Dojo Day article this weekend, but the actual release of Brawl got in the way. There will not be an article for this week due to personal work mixed with my unending drive to complete Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

However, by next weekend I plan to prepare an audio review featuring myself and one or more guests, possibly including The Oracle, TPMX, Snappysm, or maybe even some of Ani-Gamers' affiliates. There will be more information on this later, but stay tuned to get a chance to hear our sexy, sexy voices talk all about that sexy, sexy game.

Today's episode of the Joystiq Podcast featured the Photoshopping work of a very lucky anime and gaming writer who just might be named Evan "Vampt Vo" Minto. Joystiq's Chris Grant, Ludwig Kietzmann, and Justin McElroy were nice enough to include my image (pictured on the left) of the three of them in their roles from Game of the Year 2008 Super Joystiq Podcast Brawl. Thanks to Chris, Ludwig, and Justin (okay, Griffin too) for posting the picture and shamelessly plugging Ani-Gamers.

The podcast is undoubtedly my favorite--and possibly the best--gaming podcast out there. Feel free to check out this week's episode, Over the Hill Edition.

A YouTube video was uploaded about a week ago that showcased all the Super Smash Bros. Brawl characters' Final Smashes. For those who don't know, the Final Smash is the equivalent of a finisher in other fighting games, and players can use it when they attack the "Smash Ball" item.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2HU_AJbx10Q

This video is most likely accurate since the Japanese version of Brawl has already released. For any interested, all clones have a slightly different version of the regular character's Final Smash excluding Luigi. His is the oddest of all, causing him to attach flowers to all enemies in the area and slowing them down. It's a bit of a drug trip to even watch.

I just posted Dojo Day #32: New Format Edition. The new format has got my oh-so-brilliant opinions on some of the latest developments in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, including the March 9th delay and the inclusion of Lucario.

Dojo Day: New Format Edition.

Dojo Day, Ani-Gamers' official weekly Super Smash Bros. Brawl column, is changing its article format due to the evident lack of significant future updates on Sakurai's Dojo blog. But Vampt Vo can't create a new format all on his own! Send in your opinions on how the new column should be structured, or even just email him about how great his column is, in one of these four ways.

Email
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The comments section of this article

Dojo Day is written by Vampt Vo and The Oracle, and the latest article, "Japan's Got Dibs," can be found here.

Well, this is the day. On January 31 (in Japan), Super Smash Bros. Brawl officially released, and our friends in The Land of the Rising Sun have proceeded to kindly beat the game and send over screenshots of not only the character roster, but all of the newly confirmed characters as well.

For a picture of the full and official (as far as we know) roster, CLICK HERE (spoilers inside). The below contains major spoilers of the game (characters/stages), so read ahead only if you dare.

New Characters:
Lucario (Pokemon)
R.O.B. (Gyromite)
Star Wolf (Starfox)
Toon Link (Zelda)

Returning Characters:
Captain Falcon
Falco
Ganondorf
Jigglypuff
Luigi
Marth
Mr. Game & Watch
Ness

New Stages:
Something that looks like Final Destination
Classic Mario Bros. (Mario Bros.)
Green Hill Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Pirate Ship (TLoZ: Wind Waker)
Port Town (F-Zero)
Luigi's Mansion (Luigi's Mansion)
Electroplankton (Electroplankton)

Also:
Ridley is a boss in Subspace Emissary, though he is probably not playable.

That's 35 confirmed characters (not counting Sheik and Zero Suit Samus), and 28 confirmed stages (not counting Melee stages)

All of the extraneous details, along with quite a few screenshots, can be found on Joystiq.

EDIT 1: Forgot to list one of the stages.
[via Joystiq]

A week ago, a Super Smash Bros. Brawl "announcement" went largely unnoticed by many who stick to the Dojo blog for their SSBB news. During a special 5-minute Brawl trailer's stickers segment, Nintendo "accidentally" showed us a shot of a line of three characters. Shown in the images to the right and below, these characters are believed to be Ness, Lucario (he's a Pokemon or something), and Jigglypuff, respectively.

Most conspicuous is that the video was quickly edited by Nintendo, removing only that little detail. This is near-confirmation of at least Jigglypuff, but the other two are questionable. (That Ness one could just be Pokemon Trainer) Also, would someone like to tell me (and I assume most other sane human beings) what a Lucario is? I've been a bit out of the Pokemans loop for a while...

(EDIT: For clarification, the images show the characters who can get stat boosts from that sticker. The one to the right shows that Groudon can give boosts to Pikachu, Pokemon Trainer, Lucario, and Jigglypuff. The image below shows that Lucas' twin Claus can give a boost to Ness and Lucas.)
[via The Tanooki]

Nintendo pulled a fast one on us today, holding a Japanese press conference that caught most of the American gaming press off-guard. And believe me, this "Nintendo Conference Fall 2007" contained quite a large amount of Wii announcements. Here they are in bulleted form for your reading pleasure.

• Monster Hunter 3, originally a PS3 title, will release on Wii, not PS3.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl delayed until January 24, 2008 in Japan. The SSB Dojo changes its US release date to an ominous TBD.
• As previously mentioned, Brawl will feature Sonic as a playable character. In addition, the game will allow online co-op in Subspace Emissary mode.
• Mario Kart is set for a tentative Spring 2008 release window. Also, the game will include motorcycles.
• Wii Fit will release on December 1, 2007 in Japan.
• The Wii Vote (I'm assuming Everybody Votes) Channel will be updated with the ability to rank games you've played and search for new ones you're interested in.
• The Wii will be able to send DS demos to your DS using Wii Ware functions.
• First "Wii Ware" downloadable original games announced. Pokemon Bokujou (Pokemon Farm) allows you to transfer Diamond/Pearl Pokemon into a farm where you can raise them. A new Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles game from Square Enix, titled The Young King and the Promised Land, allows you to build your own country. A new version of Dr. Mario that includes Miis and 4-player online is also part of the service. Mojipittan Wii, a word puzzle game from Bandai-Namco, and Star Soldier R were also announced.
• You can play as your Miis in Mario and Sonic at the Olympics.
• Super Mario Stadium Baseball briefly announced. Trailers shown for Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and the new Crystal Chronicles

Anybody who can't find something that gets them a little excited in that list should be shot. Most of this has been predicted for a while, but in typical Nintendo fashion, they blew us away with how much they have given after such a long time of nothing at all. Going from no significant mention of Wii Ware to at least 5 titles coming out on the platform is a huge jump. Also, as I've been saying for months, the Wii is bound to start utlizing social networking fuctions. Well, here you have it, in the form of the soon-to-be-revamped Wii Vote Channel. Now, let's see if Nintendo can actually keep us interested in these new features, and not pull a "Friend Codes" on us. *crosses fingers*
[via IGN]

Finally, after months of speculation, Sonic has been confirmed as a playable character in the upcoming Nintendo Wii game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Normally, we would wait until Dojo Day to announce a new character in the game, but Sonic's appearance in the game impacts the gaming community greatly. Being the second confirmed third-party character, Sega fans will be quite joyed to see their favorite blue hedgehog entering the Smash Bros. series for the first time.

On the Smash Bros. website, on October 10, they posted that Sonic has recently joined the roster of characters on the Brawl team, along with a gameplay video of the character. By far, Sonic may be the fastest character in the game, as he retains his speed from his other games. He also has the ability to curl into a ball, like in the games, and attack other players similar to Samus' move. Also, the video hints at a possible Final Smash for the character: a transformatin into Super Sonic! Well, that's all for now, and hopefully there will be more information on this character as the weeks go by. More information will be released during Dojo Day this week. 'Till then we'll all just have to wait!
[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

This week, we're on time! And a good thing, too, since there was quite the megaton announcement not too long ago. That's right, Master Chief is going to appear in Brawl, albeit as an Assist Trophy. Kidding kidding. If I'm not careful, you guys might actually believe me. This week, we've got a character confirmation, a new stage, and some cool options that give us names longer than a One Piece episode list. Welcome to Dojo Day.

Munchlax: The pre-evolved form of Snorlax, this little Pokemon walks around the stage for a bit, and eats any items he finds. Seems like an interesting little mechanic.

Lyn: Green-haired Fire Emblem swordfighter Lyn is an Assist Trophy. She drops in, dissapears, and then slices one of your enemies for you. nyoro~n, amirite?

Battleship Halberd: Meta-Knight's flying battleship, as seen in Subspace Emmisary mode, is, of course, a stage. You will fight on platforms in front of the ship, and eventually land on the deck, where a cannon can shoot beams at you and attack with a robotic arm. Yay for moar dynamic stages.

Special Brawl: Using features from Melee and adding new ones, this new menu item is incredibly cool. You can choose all different options such as size of the characters, metal, fire-breathing, and speed of movement. It even shows the effects of your options on a Mario to the right, and gives your selection a name similar to this article's title.

Ice Climbers: The rumors, the gossip, the rampant tabloid speculation. Britney Spears is actually Paris Hilton in disguise! More importantly, the Ice Climbers are confirmed as characters in Brawl. There was a widely believed (and later debunked) rumor many months ago that Mr. Game & Watch, the Ice Climbers, and Young Link were out in favor of Ridley, Bowser Jr., and Windwaker Link. This offically ends all speculation on that front, and most likely confirms that the other information (excepting perhaps the likely Young Link-WW LInk switch) is totally false, and G&W is still in.

Everything but Special Brawl and Ice Climbers is cool, but nothing special. Special Brawl is a brilliant idea, and I can't wait to see the craziness it will cause. HAL is going all-out on the customization front, and hopefully that long-lost rumor of custmoizable character stats will still hold true. The Ice Climbers look pretty nice, even in the gameplay shots underneath the obviously-touched-up rendering. It's also good to see that no characters will be leaving. See you all next week, when hopefully I can get the elusive Oracle to write you another article. *loads shotgun* Friendly persuasion's a beautiful thing.
[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

E3 is, of course, one of the best conventions to get new video footage from. The major game companies did not disspoint this year, with major trailers and game footage from such games as Super Mario Galaxy, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Halo 3. Below are Ani-Gamers' picks for the best and most important game videos of E3, courtesy of E3 Insider and GameTrailers.

Halo 3 Trailer (360)
Arms Race (Halo short film) (N/A)
Resident Evil 5 Trailer (360)
Wii Fit Trailer (Wii)
Reggie Unveils Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Super Mario Galaxy Trailer (Wii)
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Trailer (Wii)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Trailer (PS3)
Killzone 2 Trailer (PS3)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Trailer (PS2/PS3/360/DS)
Portal Developer Walkthrough (PC/360/PS3)
Rock Band Trailer (360/PS3)
Sakurai's Surprise 15-second Brawl Video (Wii)

Phew. There were a lot of good videos, but I personally suggest the MGS4 and Resident Evil 5 Trailers, as well as the Super Mario Galaxy one. Happy E3 everyone! Save This Page   Slashdot It!   |Share on Facebook|

At yesterday's press conference, Nintendo officially announced release dates for two of the "big three" Wii franchises. Super Mario Galaxy releases on November 12, 2007, while Super Smash Bros. Brawl releases on December 3, 2007. Since Metroid Prime 3: Corruption's date was announced a few weeks back as August 27, that means that the big three are finally dated for the North American market.

In addition to the dates, Nintendo also released trailers for Galaxy and Corruption. The Galaxy trailer clearly shows the ability to transform into other creatures, like bees and Boos, and the Corruption one shows the traditional new enemies and such along with a scene from the Ridley fight. View the new Galaxy and Corruption footage here and here, respectively.
[via IGN] Save This Page   Slashdot It!   |Share on Facebook|

The newest Smash Bros. Dojo update tells us about the new free-shooting abilities of the super scope. It can now be fired while running and while jumping. This announcement also officially confirms that the super scope will be included in the game. The screens shown are of Wario using it, and they seem, more than any others we've seen so far, to be real screens from the game.

It seems that we've been given two nice updates to the SB Dojo site once again. Together, the two explain the "Final Smash" item that we have seen in the trailer. It is an item that, when picked up, will cause your character to glow. While they are in this state, you can press a button to use their final smash, a powerful, often long-range attack. So far, they have only shown us Mario's, which consists of a large blast of fire.

Another update to the SSBB site, this time with more detailed information on Pit's techniques. As mentioned before, you will be able to change the trajectory of Pit's arrows in mid-flight, though they move fast and it is very hard. IN addition, he will have limited flying abilities, in the vein of Kirby from the past Smash Bros. games. As usual, there are some images included, though these seem to be brand new. (and from the looks of them, they might even be gameplay footage!)

The Super Smash Bros. Dojo site has updated once again with the character profile for Pit, from the NES game Kid Icarus. There are a few screens on the site, though from what I can tell, they are all from one of the previous trailers.

Yes, for now I will use this blog for small updates and news like the following:

The Smash Bros. has updated with an item profile. This one profiles a new item called the "Gooey Bomb." It acts much like the familiar plasma grenade in Halo, and I'm sure in no time you'll be hearing Brawl players yelling, "STUCK!" The bomb is encased in a gooey outer covering that sticks to both the ground and whoever it hits. What makes this interesting, though, is that by running into someone else, you can sometimes actually transfer it to them.

Keep checking the blog for updates on the Smash Bros site.