Despite all the love that fighters get with 3D graphics these days, there are a few games which still stick to the genres 2D roots and it’s even better when they stick to the genres arcade roots as well. One of those games is the BlazBlue series by Arc System Works. I’ve actually had a number of requests for a BlazBlue arcade title at my own arcade as the there is one 
decent side-effect of an arcade game getting the console treatment and that’s potential player awareness. So it won’t be a surprise when Arc System Works takes their latest arcade announcement and gives it all sorts of love and support in a console release just a short time from the arcade release. That release would be the new Blazblue: Continuum Shift II which will making it’s first public debut at the JAMMA show next month. While few details have been given on the new title, we know it will still run on Taito’s Type X2 hardware; it will keep the 2D graphics style; it will have an 8-way joystick w/ 4 buttons and it comes out this winter at an undetermined price. They also will be including a new character that has been released as DLC for the console versions of the game.
I wonder what kind of support the company will be giving the game internationally as with the first BlazBlue they had sent kits to sell in the US and Europe but with Continuum Shift I didn’t hear of the same effort being put forth for the arcade version. It’s one of those things we’ll have to wait and see on.
[BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II anouncement]
Source: AM-Net
UPDATE: Also more at Japhei Game Blog
