With Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy bringing the loud lawyer to a wide variety of platforms, we were fortunate enough to have Shu Takumi, the series’ creator, share his reflections on both crafting Phoenix’s early adventures and seeing them brought to new platforms.

Without further ado, take it away, Mr. Takumi!

***

Hello. This is Shu Takumi, the original planner, scenario writer, and director of the first three Ace Attorney games.

The first Ace Attorney game made its overseas debut in 2005, but it was originally released in Japan in 2001. So, as we approach the series’ 20 ^th anniversary, I was surprised to hear that we would be releasing this latest version with redrawn graphics and a more refined UI. I was doubly surprised to hear that the series would be taking its first steps away from Nintendo handhelds to make its global multi-platform debut on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. While I left the actual work of porting the game to the dev team, when they showed me the final game on a large TV, I was surprised yet again by how fresh everything felt thanks to all the little details they had restored.

When I had set out to write the first game’s script, I had wanted to make it something people could play in 10 years’ time and still feel that it was as relevant then as when I’d written it. Therefore, I avoided things that would date it like using popular slang phrases or building stories around current affairs, and instead, focused on stories that anyone can easily relate to and understand… And now, here we are 18 years later. What started as the creation of a small, seven-member team has grown into a series that people all around the world can enjoy. As a creator, that fact in itself is a great source of joy for me. I am grateful for everyone’s love and support.

The idea to make a game about a lawyer fighting in a court of law first took shape in a game proposal doc I wrote in the summer of 2000. There were no courtroom-based games at the time, so it was very hard to convey to others what it would actually play like. When I first presented the game’s concept to the higher ups in the company, I received a lot of negative comments like, “This game seems hard and unforgiving. Are you sure players will take to this?” and “Won’t players need some legal knowledge just to play?” But the point of the game wasn’t “the law” or even “reality”. Instead, I imagined a game where the point was to have fun solving puzzles and enjoy the excitement of calling witnesses out in their lies with evidence. I imagined the courtroom to be like a huge colosseum where the crowds above would loudly cheer on the verbal gladiators below.

That’s why I took the negative comments to heart and used them to help me decide how to create the game’s characters. I aimed to create characters that seemed to sit on the line between “real” and “not real” – ordinary enough to exist in the real world while being just outlandish enough not to. I wanted them to be funny and charming so as to leave an impression on players from just a single glance. For main characters like Phoenix and Edgeworth, I decided to give them each a unique and recognizable silhouette and color scheme. As for the witnesses, I wanted them to change dramatically over time and to reveal their real colors the more you pursued them. That drastic difference in tone was something we wanted to really stress when we were designing them. The first of these characters that we created was April May. I’m willing to bet that there isn’t anyone on Earth who didn’t feel a huge sense of satisfaction when they finally took her down.

From the second game onwards, I decided to take the character designs in a new direction. In the first game, the characters were meant to be “real but not real”, but with the second game, we made them “100% out of this world”. One character that represents this to a T is the whip-loving Franziska von Karma. Her impossibly indiscriminate whip strikes down witnesses, lawyers, and even judges alike in court. Yet, despite all that, not a single person on the team told me it was a totally ridiculous idea when I first proposed it. So, while the first Ace Attorney had laid the groundwork, we kept taking things further and further until one day, a coffee-loving masked prosecutor named Godot appeared.

Back when we were creating these characters, we thought it was vital that we found the characters to be funny ourselves, and that we had as much fun as possible while making them. We believed that if we created them in joy, then players would surely interact with them in joy as well. The fact that the characters we created are still yelling “Objection!” somewhere in the world to this very day… as a creator, it is the greatest honor I could ever have.

***

Thank you so much for your valuable time and insight, Mr. Takumi!

If this is your first time putting on a lawyer’s badge, you’ll get to experience the world of Ace Attorney for yourself when Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam on April 9 ^th ! We’ll have more from Mr. Takumi in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Hello Street Fighter fans. The 2019 Capcom Pro Tour season is ready to kick off this weekend with Final Round 2019 !

As a Premier Event, players from around the world will be flying in to Atlanta, Georgia to compete for up to 700 points on the Global Leaderboard for a 1st place finish.

In addition to the start of the season, featuring Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, the CPT has new theme song called True Champion by music group PKCZ® appearing by courtesy of LDH Music & Publishing INC. debuting at Final Round. PKCZ, consisting of Exile Hiro, DJ Makidai, Verbal, DJ Daruma as its core members, creates new sound by mixing “true excitement and the sensation of indescribable cool.” You might even recognize some of Exile Hiro’s previous work on Street Fighter IV’s Indestructible theme song.

If you’re at Final Round, you’ll get to hear True Champion for the first time! For now, tune in to a sample of the track on Capcom Fighters YouTube .

Final Round always brings the hype and the level of competition will be off the charts.  You won’t want to miss a second of the action so tune in March 15-17 on the following channels:

Twitch.tv/CapcomFighters
YouTube.com/CapcomFighters
Facebook.com/StreetFighter

®

With Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy out in just a few weeks, it’s once again time to check in on the colorful cast of characters that grace the courtroom. Last week we covered the pointy hair and pointed finger of Phoenix Wright, but this time we’re moving the spotlight over Maya Fey! Seasoned veterans need no introductions, but if you’re new to the games, now’s a great time to learn more about Phoenix’s spirited assistant.

A lively young woman who loves to poke fun at Phoenix about anything and everything she can, Maya is a constant companion throughout many of Wright’s early cases. Offering valuable insight (and some good-natured teasing) to investigations and courtrooms alike, Maya brings lots of colorful commentary and perspective to dire situations. As the younger sister of Mia Fey (Phoenix’s mentor and boss), Maya knows her way around a court case and has even helped her sister in the past by holding on to key pieces of evidence. Maya’s support can be invaluable when Phoenix has nowhere else to turn, typically only asking for payment in her favorite food: hamburgers! Phoenix still has to foot the bill, of course.

Maya is certainly more spirited than most others, which you may have noticed from her unusual clothing. It causes her to stand out, and there’s a reason for what she wears! While her older sister Mia left their home village of Kurain to study law, Maya stayed behind to train as a spirit medium, learning how to channel the spirits of the recently departed via the Kurain Channeling Technique. In addition to summoning a spirit to speak through a living person, this technique causes the medium to take on physical characteristics of the person they’re channeling, often with surprising results. The occult plays a central role in one of the cases in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All, but you’ll have to play for yourself to understand just how this unique form of channeling works.

Even when Maya isn’t around, she finds ways to help Phoenix in spirit. Early on in Justice for All, Maya provides Phoenix with a magatama (the comma-shaped gem she wears on her necklace). Far from just a fashionable accessory, this spiritually charged stone can help Phoenix see the secrets that people are hiding in the form of Psyche-Locks. These are a manifestation of the blockades people have on their hearts to hide away the truth – typically from others, but occasionally even from themselves. With the right piece of evidence, Phoenix can break each lock and uncover even the deepest secrets that people have sealed away.

You’ll get to know lots more about Maya, including her love of the Steel Samurai and keen eye for ladders (it’s a “‘step’-ladder” by the way) when Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam on April 9th!

After all these years, the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is finally making its way to the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam on April 9, 2019! Whether you’re joining us from the anime or you’re just getting around to playing the game that started the “Objection!” meme, welcome to the world of Ace Attorney! I’m your guide, series localization director Janet Hsu, and if you’re all set, we’ll be on our way!

So what exactly is Ace Attorney all about? Aside from ridiculously pointy-haired lawyers pointing ridiculously, I mean. Well, it’s a little of everything: mystery, comedy, drama, and even tragedy. In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, you are Phoenix Wright, and along with your assistant Maya Fey, you’ll take on not one, not two, but 14 cases across the first three games of the Ace Attorney series. But you probably already knew all that, right?

Then let’s get into the nitty-gritty, shall we?

 1)       Forget everything you know about real-life law

No lawyer in the real world would play detective and search crime scenes for clues, yet that’s precisely what you and Phoenix will need to get up to. Before each trial, you’ll have one day to investigate your client’s claims, find evidence that will strengthen your case, and talk with witnesses who can fill in the gaps.

  Examining everything is the key to finding clues… and silly banter.

Of course, nothing is easy for our protagonist, as you’ll quickly find out. The police will try to keep you out of their crime scenes, and witnesses will require some finessing before they’re willing to spill the beans.

Presenting people with evidence will sometimes jog their memory and/or loosen their lips.

Behold, the mighty Attorney’s Badge! See how it sparkles in the light!

Oftentimes, the crime scene isn’t the only location you’ll have to visit in your quest for the truth. Plus, you’ll definitely want to speak with your client down at the detention center. Thankfully, getting around town in this game world is instantaneous!

Once you’ve gathered all you can, it’s time to go home and rest up for the next day’s trial….

2)       Seriously, forget everything you know about real-life law

Just as no lawyer yells “Objection!” nearly as much in real life, the witnesses you’ll cross-examine get more chances to correct themselves than me and Ctrl-Z. After opening statements and an overview of the case, you’ll be given a chance to listen witnesses and cross-examine them. The key to victory is to listen carefully to each statement and compare what the witness is saying against the evidence in the Court Record.

If something seems off, it’s up to you to present your evidence and point out the contradiction.

Slowly, a picture of what actually happened will begin to take form, and you’ll begin to see who really committed the crime. Use the evidence you gathered and your deductive reasoning to nail the culprit and bring them to justice!

You believed in your client to the very end, right? Of course you did!

While this all seems very easy, if the judge decides that there just isn’t enough to convince him of your client’s guilt, or if new questions were raised during the trial that warrant looking into, he may decide to extend the trial by another day. In that case, you’ll get the chance to spend the rest of the day following up on any new leads you’ve uncovered or re-interview witnesses. Make good use of this extra day to do everything you can to shore up your case!

3)       Remember to enjoy yourself

The colorful world of Ace Attorney is filled with amazing and well-developed characters whose complex stories and interactions are guaranteed to spark joy. Here are just a few you’ll meet:

Phoenix Wright

A newly minted lawyer just starting to learn the ropes, his sense of justice and faith in his clients is second to none.

Mia Fey

Phoenix’s mentor and boss at Fey & Co. Law Offices. A real go-getter in her youth, she remains as dogged as ever in her search for the truth.

Maya Fey

Mia’s younger sister and Phoenix’s assistant, Maya loves hamburgers and teasing Phoenix over anything she can. She’s training to become a powerful spirit medium, but she’s not quite there yet.

Detective Gumshoe

A detective with the local precinct, he is a lovable lunk with a heart of gold. Sure, he’s working for the opposition, but he also leaks info like a runny faucet. A true friend indeed.

Miles Edgeworth

Cool as ice on the outside, an intense desire to bring all criminals to justice burns deep within his heart. Some might say it burns abnormally so, but he has his own reasons for wanting to see them behind bars.

Franziska von Karma

Following in the footsteps of her famous father, Franziska will do anything to show the world that she is as great as the legendary Manfred von Karma, including whipping you. Literally.

Godot

“A masked prosecutor?” you might ask yourself, but as he would say, “No matter the man, we all wear masks… Either on our faces or over our hearts.” No one seems to know much about the man known as Godot, but one thing is for certain: you can’t wait around for him to give you a straight answer — you have to find it for yourself.

In addition to the cast of characters, we’ve made it easier than ever for you to play as you wish with these new options and other quality of life features!

• Start playing from whichever game you’d like!

• More save slots! Ten for each language, in fact!

• And glorious, glorious options!

• We’ve also made sure to let you know what you’ve already checked with a convenient checkmark (✔)!

Hooray! No more, “What in the world did I forget to check this time???”

 • And for Switch players, you can play whole game using just the touch screen!

Manipulate the evidence as you wish. Just be careful about leaving your fingerprints on it!

Now that you’ve been armed with the basics, I hope to see you in court on April 9 ^th ! In the meantime, this is just the first blog in a series, so I’ll be back at a later date for some more fun.

Until then!

The anticipation is over, folks! Devil May Cry 5 is here and the world is ready to see all the smokin’ sexy stylish combos you’ll pull off in the game!

As the demonic invasion begins, the stage is set for one of the most epic and badass adventures in the Devil May Cry universe. And for the first time, you’ll be able to take on this gargantuan task by stepping into the shoes of three distinct protagonists. Here’s a refresher on each of these stylish demon hunters.

V, the newcomer to the series, joins the cast in a shroud of mystery and brings with him a completely new take on the over-the-top combat the series is known for. Accompanied by his summoned demons Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare, V controls the entire battlefield in ways never done before! Can’t wait to see all the sadistic and savage combo videos you’ll come up with!

Nero is at the center of this latest chapter in the Devil May Cry series. After all, a powerful demon took his arm and gained a great deal of power from it. But this loss is being compensated for by the addition of the devastating robotic Devil Breaker arms. These new tools are core to his combat mechanics opening up even more opportunities for SSSmooth combos. The real fun begins once you embrace their disposable nature and start to explore what’s under the hood.

Dante, the legendary demon hunter we all fell in love with back in 2001, is also back in business. He’s back with his classic style focused on the triad combination of swords, guns and real-time style-switching. Our masterful designers took the time to tinker with and revamp a lot of the weapon move sets and toolkits offered by upgrading each of Dante’s styles. Seriously: upgrade those styles and you’ll start to see the magic happen.

In case you need some extra motivation before jumping in, here’s our Final Trailer:

And a new personal favorite, our live action TV spot, created by Lord Danger’s legendary director Mike Diva :

Devil May Cry 5 is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC!

Keep it stylish!

With Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam in just a few weeks, it’s a great time for new attorneys to discover what makes these games so much fun. We’ll start by taking a look at the ace attorney who started it all. Isn’t that right, Wright?

Phoenix Wright is a man who needs no introduction – his name is in the title, after all! You probably know the spiky-haired attorney from his bright blue suit, shiny gold attorney’s badge, and of course, his tendency to point at things and yell “OBJECTION!” dramatically. What’s with all the yelling and desk slamming, anyways? If you’re picking these games up for the first time or discovered Wright through his appearances elsewhere, here’s a quick overview of what you need to know about Phoenix.

Phoenix made his first appearance in 2001 in the Game Boy Advance game 逆転è£åˆ¤ (Gyakuten Saiban), which translates to “Turnabout Courtroom.” When the games were brought to the Nintendo DS in the West, they were renamed to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, bringing the adventures of Ryuichi Naruhodo to a new audience and giving the character a new name: Phoenix Wright. Makes sense, right?

Moving on from the history lesson, the aptly named Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney begins with Phoenix’s very first case in a court of law, defending his old friend Larry Butz against murder charges. While Wright has had plenty of experience working as a junior member of the Fey and Co. Law Offices, it’s his first time taking the lead on the defense, putting a spotlight on how nervous he is to be standing behind the bench. Worse still, he’s pitted against Winston Payne, a man dubbed the “Rookie Killer.” Armed with only his badge, his wits, and a few pieces of evidence, it’s up to Phoenix to stand tall, defend his friend, and save the day in court!

This is Phoenix’s first case, and he still has quite a bit to learn about how to put up a solid defense, but it also highlights one of his greatest strengths. Throughout his cases, Phoenix eventually becomes well known for his particular ability to turn a bad situation in his favor when things are at their worst, often finding just the right piece of evidence he needs to prove his point or thinking through the entire case from a new angle to turn the tables on the prosecution. Well… that, and his constant pointing, desk slamming, and of course, loudly yelling “ OBJECTION! ”

After an unforeseen incident, Phoenix inherits the Fey and Co. Law Offices and begins to take on new cases with the help of Mia’s younger sister, Maya, who we’ll be covering next time. As time goes on, Phoenix’s idea of what his role in court is changes; instead of blindly seeking to find his client innocent no matter the cost, he starts to understand that his role extends to finding the facts of the case at hand… even if that means learning hard truths that neither he nor his client might want to face.

Throughout the original three Ace Attorney games, Phoenix grows into a competent defense attorney, though he can still be flustered by Maya’s constant antics, the bizarre suspects that come to him for help, and the vibrant cast of prosecutors out to stop him at every turn. Still, he finds a way to smile through it all, putting his unwavering belief in his clients and the truth front and center each time he steps into the courtroom. Eventually, Phoenix will unravel a case that had been haunting him since his college days, involving his ex-girlfriend, his mentor, and a court case that bridges the past and future… but that’s a story for another time. You’ll just have to play for yourself to see how that unfolds.

You won’t have to wait too much longer for your day in court. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy hits PS4, XB1, Switch, and Steam on April 9th!

Hello Street Fighter fans. The Street Fighter League: US-Pro 2019 is officially in progress and we have some updates and new details to share with you!

First, allow us to congratulate the winners of the SFL Phase 1 East and West Coast Online Qualifiers – RobTV and UpToSnuff, respectively. By winning the Online Qualifiers, they’ve placed themselves in the draft pool for SFL 2019.

Phase 2 East and West Coast Online Qualifiers registrations are open right now. If you competed in the first phase, you’re still eligible to play in the second and third phases. Take control of your destiny by registering on the SFL 2019 Smash.gg page and put yourself on an SFL team!

Now on to the actual tournament format of the SFL. As mentioned previously, the 2019 SFL is a 3v3 teams-based competition. Once the captains and players have been determined – via Online Qualifiers and the Community Vote (which we’ll get to in a bit) – a draft will take place to form the six teams.

We’ve put together this handy infographic to visualize the process.

Six teams will compete in a double round robin elimination tournament until we have a winner. However, we’re introducing something a little different to the competition than you’re used to seeing in teams tournaments – the character ban.

Before each match, a team will have the choice of banning one character. Each team will then have to make a strategic decision to determine who will play what characters. Once the character selections are made, they are locked in and repeating characters will not be allowed.

The goal is to introduce a layer of team strategy into the competition rather than focus solely on the individuals.

If you don’t make it into SFL via Online Qualifiers, you still have a shot through the Community Vote. You can log into the official Smash.gg SFL Community Vote page and opt in right now. The opt-in phase lasts until Friday, March 15, 2019. At that time, the community can then vote on the players until March 17.

The six players with the most votes will win the final spots in SFL 2019 and be placed into the draft pool along with the Online Qualifiers.

That’s it for now but we still have more info to share in the coming weeks so make sure you follow Capcom Fighters on Twitter and Facebook for updates on SFL 2019.

Twenty of the fastest Resident Evil 2 speedrunners out there will be competing in a first of its kind competition as part of Twitch Rivals on March 5th for their share of a $10,000 prize pool! Check out all the details below!

You’re probably familiar with the concept of speedrunning: finishing a game as quickly as possible, often in a variety of categories such as with or without glitches, using certain characters, and so on. Twitch Rivals is putting a new spin on this formula: Tasking top runners with completing the main campaigns of the game as quickly as they can while also challenging them to unlock as many achievements as possible as they go!

With a $10K prize pot up for grabs, it’s sure to be an exciting stream. The action starts on March 5 ^th at 10 AM Pacific Time, so be sure to tune in at twitch.tv/twitchrivals!

Tons of talented folks will be participating, so check out the list of planned Twitch streamers below, and be sure to follow them on Twitch to show your support:

bawkbasoup – www.twitch.tv/bawkbasoup

uhtrance –  www.twitch.tv/uhtrance

igoralmeida –  www.twitch.tv/igoralmeida

DaggerVII –  www.twitch.tv/daggervii

orchlon –  www.twitch.tv/orchlon

t op_tear_waifu –  www.twitch.tv/top_tear_waifu

djungueule –  www.twitch.tv/djungueule

kenhie –  www.twitch.tv/kenhie

kloudsta –  www.twitch.tv/kloudsta

7rayd –  www.twitch.tv/7rayd

distortion2 –  www.twitch.tv/distortion2

qttsix –  www.twitch.tv/qttsix

tehgamingalien –  www.twitch.tv/tehgamingalien

cassolzao –  www.twitch.tv/cassolzao

b1trat3 –  www.twitch.tv/b1trat3

xer1an –  www.twitch.tv/xer1an

airsnick –  www.twitch.tv/airsnick

OBJECTION! If it pleases the court, we’d like to present evidence that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is coming to all major platforms on April 9th, 2019! Pre-order now, and get ready for your big day at the defense bench!

Both greenhorns experiencing their first day in court and veterans who can tell the difference between a ladder and a step-ladder will be able to enjoy the early days of Phoenix Wright in this bundle of games, complete with a modern UI and other improvements for current consoles. Everything you know and love about Ace Attorney is here, including the characteristic investigations, courtroom antics, updated autopsy reports, and zany cast of characters that define everything that these games are known for.

The rules are quite a bit different in these courtrooms. Far from your standard jury trial, defense attorneys must conduct their own investigations in the world of Ace Attorney, and a three-day trial system ensures a speedy verdict for the accused. It’s up to you to gather evidence and interrogate witnesses during the investigation phase, then separate the truth from lies and use everything in your arsenal in a court of law! From pressing witnesses for more information, to presenting evidence to dispute statements, you’ll need to use every bit of evidence, testimony, and maybe a bit of bluffing to prove your client’s innocence!

Starting with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, step into the bright blue suit and put on the shiny new attorney’s badge of Phoenix as he takes on his earliest trials, beginning with defending his childhood friend from being falsely accused of murder. Proving the innocence of the hapless Larry Butz is just the beginning, though, as Phoenix begins to uncover a mystery years in the making. With the help of Maya Fey, a spirit medium and Phoenix’s self-assigned assistant, join Phoenix as he goes head-to-head against brutal prosecutors like Miles Edgeworth and Manfred von Karma and learns what it means to be a lawyer.

Taking place several months after the first game, Phoenix Wright: Justice for All sees Phoenix taking on new cases as a rising star among attorneys, even as he comes under attack from the deadly whip of Franziska von Karma. With a prosecutor prodigy attempting to tear him down at every turn in court, Phoenix will need all the help he can get! Fortunately, Phoenix has the power of the new Psyche-Lock system on his side, allowing him to see into people’s hearts and unlock the truth he needs to win the day in court.

The third game in the original trilogy, Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations starts off with a different tone, putting Phoenix in the hot seat of the accused! Taking a leap back in time, step into the shoes of a different attorney: Mia Fey, older sister of Maya Fey and Phoenix’s future boss. Mia’s first case is to defend a young art student by the name of Phoenix Wright in a trial that will set the stage for the rest of the game’s events. Explore the twists and turns of the legal system as you fight to reveal the truth, and unravel a mystery that bridges the gap between the past and present for both Phoenix and the Fey family.

Your day in court is coming soon, but don’t worry – you’ve got the best legal representation on your side with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy! Coming to all major platforms on April 9 ^th , pre-order now to ensure you’re all set for your court date!

Monster Hunter: World version 6.01 (PS4) / 6.0.0.1 (Xbox One) is now live. Patch notes are available below.