Thursday 19 September 2013

News roundup: An explosion of Sengoku Basara 4 news as TGS 2013 opens

Masamune's hakama/wooden sword costume announced as DLC

Masamune's special costume from the BSR48 video was a huge hit when it first debuted, and now it looks as though the casual outfit is making its way to the game series.


I was disappointed for literally seconds about the idea of DLC for the series before it turned into unbridled excitement at how cool Masamune looks. Needless to say I'll be getting this costume and buying any other DLC which ends up coming out later on.

e-Capcom reveals four Sengoku Basara 4 special editions

There will be no less than four special versions of Sengoku Basara 4 available through Capcom's webstore and they've set up a special page to explain the differences.

The Hyakka Ryouran Tamatebako edition costs ¥8,790 and its extra features are a 100-page Sengoku Basara 4 storyboard collection, an 80-page hardcover A4 book about the commanders titled 'Sengoku Basara 4 Bushou Hiden No Sho', a special Masamune jacket (sleeve) for the game and a golden-coloured Masamune custom theme for your PS3, presented in a special box. It's also available through other stores (I just reserved a copy from Amazon Japan). I'll add more store links as soon as the listings are available!

Edit: Now also available from Yesasia Global, Yesasia USA, HMV Japan. HMV has a note on the listing implying it might include an additional bonus.


The Ryuuou-Kamewari version is priced at ¥9,990 and includes a leather case showing the Basara-e artwork for Masamune and Katsuie. This edition is exclusive to e-Capcom.


The Saikyou-Chouhan version is priced at ¥9,990. It's exactly the same except the special leather case has the Basara-e for Mitsunari and Sakon on it. This edition is exclusive to e-Capcom.


Lastly, the standard edition is priced at ¥6,990. It's available at regular stores like Amazon Japan too, of course.

Edit: Also available from Yesasia Global, Yesasia USA, HMV Japan, Play-Asia. Please note that Yesasia and Play-Asia do not list the DLC in their description for this version while HMV Japan does and also appears to have some kind of bonus included.


All four editions will come with the download code for Masamune's special costume as a first press bonus.

Details of the Sengoku Basara 4 theme songs announced

We now have more information about T.M.Revolution's theme song for Sengoku Basara 4. It will be titled 'Count ZERO'. SCANDAL's ending theme is to be called 'Runners high'. Both songs will appear in future promotional videos on the official website and in game stores in Japan.

'Bizarre' Sengoku Basara pendants available for preorder

e-Capcom has also added details of four new Sengoku Basara 4 x Bizarre silver pendants available from the beginning of 2014 and priced at ¥9,450 each, in collaboration with the popular Harajuku 'Bizarre' brand. There are designs representing Masamune (lightning/crescent moon), Yukimura (fire/six coins), Mitsunari (feather/embroidery) and Ieyasu (rope/mitsuba aoi crest).



Betones are releasing a range of Sengoku Basara 4 boxer shorts

Male fans shouldn't feel left out as there's also going to be a Sengoku Basara 4 x Betones collaboration to produce a range of character-themed boxer shorts for men this December. The boxers will cost ¥1,995 for each one-size-fits-all pair and three designs are available: Masamune/Katsuie, Mitsunari/Sakon and Yukimura/Sasuke.


'After talk show' events announced for the Sengoku Basara stage play series

It's been announced that the upcoming November stage play Butai Sengoku Basara 3 Utage Two: Kyouou Tanjou x Shinen No Utage will have some 'after talk' cast talk shows after three of the Nagoya shows (15th November at 18:00, 16th November at 12:00 and 16th November at 17:00). The cast members who will participate are Nakamura Seijirou (Ishida Mitsunari), Yoshida Tomokazu (Katakura Kojuurou) and Murata Youjirou (Sarutobi Sasuke).

Ieyasu and Tadakatsu added to the official Sengoku Basara 4 website

The official website has updated to add placeholders for Ieyasu and Tadakatsu as revealed in today's issue of Weekly Famitsu (see my previous post). Their sections will open on 26th September 2013 to reveal their full artwork, voice samples (well, for Ieyasu at least...) and screenshots.

There's also an explanation of the Stylish Gauge mechanic I talked about yesterday.

Brand new Sengoku Basara fan club announced: Basara Club

The old Eiyuu No Kai fan club is still wrapping up and already a brand new replacement has been announced: Basara Club. Applications for membership will be accepted from 1st October 2014 and club activities will begin on 1st December. Benefits of membership include a membership card, a special item for joining, the fan club newsletter, greetings cards on your birthday and at the new year, access to special fan club merchandise, access to lotteries for event tickets and also to special fan club events. In other words, the rewards are all identical to those of the old fan club...

It costs ¥1,000 to join, then ¥4,000 each year for the actual membership - however, if you sign up between 1st October and 30th November the setup fee will be waived. The official website for the new club is here.

Sengoku Basara 4: Basara Matsuri 2014 ~Shinshun No Utage~ scheduled for January

A game launch wouldn't be complete without a Basara Matsuri event, and sure enough Sengoku Basara 4: Basara Matsuri 2014 ~Shinshun No Utage~ has been scheduled for 19th January 2014, a few days before the game goes on sale on 23rd January. It's going to be held in Tokyo's Nippon Seinenkan Great Hall and there will be two performances on the same day. Seiyuu Nakamura Yuuichi (Shima Sakon) and Okamoto Nobuhiko (Shibata Katsuie) have been announced as the first guests. Members of the new fan club will be given priority in the ticket lottery. The official event website has already been launched. The venue seems quite small by recent Basara Matsuri standards...

Ichiban Kuji lottery announced with Sengoku Basara prizes

I posted about this back in February when it was just a rumour, and finally it's come to fruition! The popular Ichiban Kuji lottery will be running a Sengoku Basara 4 prize campaign in mid-January with tickets costing ¥600. Every tickets wins some kind of prize, but the exclusive 'Kyun-Chara' figures of Masamune (A-rank prize) and Yukimura (B-rank prize) are sure to become sought after. The news bulletin notes that Masamune's helmet can be removed.


There will also be a prize campaign at Japanese amusement arcades which includes these dapper Masamune and Mitsunari wearable hood towels.


The official website for the lottery will be launched on 24th September.

Mame Sengoku Basara trading figures to be released

I'm not entirely sure I find the Ichiban Kuji prize figures all that cute. Fortunately, there will also be a set of Mame Sengoku Basara trading figures released more conventionally in January. Although there's been no formal announcement so far, the unpainted computer-generated mock-ups can be seen in one Twitter user's snapshot (edit: here's another two with samples), clearly revealing that the line will include 'mame' versions of Masamune, Yukimura, Ieyasu, Mitsunari, Kojuurou, Sasuke, Motochika and Motonari with one 'secret' figure to collect. Each blind-boxed trading figure will cost ¥693.

Exclusive TGS2013 cards for Sengoku Basara Card Heroes Matsuri

As well as the 'Dragon King' Masamune card I mentioned before which visitors to Tokyo Game Show 2013 can pick up at Capcom's booth, players of mobile game Sengoku Basara Card Heroes Matsuri can obtain a unique Mitsunari card by logging into the game and participating in the event currently taking place.


Capcom's new Geist Crusher game will feature a Masamune tie-in

I haven't been following Capcom's brand new Geist Crusher title (or possibly Gaist Crusher according to the official website). Apparently, that was a mistake, since they've announced some crossover fun with Sengoku Basara 4.


Date Masamune will appear in the game as 'Jet Masamune'. I'm afraid I have no idea what any of this means in context, but it looks good fun. There's a clip in this video too.


Sengoku Basara to appear at Machi Asobi in October

No details have been revealed yet but there will be some kind of Sengoku Basara content at October's Machi Asobi event. Machi Asobi will run between the 10th and the 12th of October 2013 in Tokushima.

And finally...reports from the Tokyo Game Show venue

It's the first day of TGS so there's a lot going on, and there'll be even more news this weekend after the stage presentations take place. Famitsu has posted first gameplay impressions, an interview and a stage report so far. The venerable Nine Demons Yoshitaka has been able to report some of the reveals in his posts over at the Koei Warriors forums and the booth looks fabulous.

10 comments:

  1. Can I ask you some advices about pre-orders on Amazon.jp? If they don't ship internationally, how can I reserve a copy? Are there some tricks to do it? Thank you Q_Q

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    1. You need to use a deputy service or have a forwarding address for games, unfortunately (most items they ship worldwide but toys and games are special). I expect that regular importers such as Play-Asia, Yesasia, Amiami, CD Japan and all of the others will list the special box edition in the next day or two, and I'd definitely recommend going with one of them over using a deputy in this case as it will be quicker and cheaper.

      I'll add more shopping links to the main post as I find them.

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    2. Thank you for your response! *u* Infact I'm person who always use AmiAmi, CDJapan and similar, but I found a deputy service for things like that and made an account, just to be sure. If nothing will pop out, I'll use the deputy service. Thanks again!

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    3. Good luck! I hope you can place your order soon.

      I'm happy to see other fans buying the game *^^*

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  2. Hey there, I was wondering if you could personally recommend any particular deputy/shopping services that might be able to get things to the UK via amazon.jp and/or e-Capcom...? Sorry if you've been asked that a lot, and thank you in advance! I know there are a lot out there but are there some you would personally trust above others...?

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    1. No problem. I keep meaning to make a shopping guide post but Capcom release too much Sengoku Basara news all of the time (hehe). Here are the ones I have personal experience with.

      If you can't shop yourself (for example, if you want one of the two e-Capcom exclusive packs as they don't accept UK credit cards) you need to use a buying service. The ones I've actually used before are:

      CD Japan: Expensive but very reliable and you can probably ask them whether they'll stock the special edition themselves at the same time.
      Celga: When I've used them they were slow, but they know what they're doing and I happen to know they have past experience buying from e-Capcom.
      Otokichi Premium: This service is run by one person, but he's lovely and very helpful.
      Shopping Mall Japan: Reliable, if a little fiddly to use.
      FDJP: I have used them for some obscure things. Reliable but can be expensive.

      I have never used Rinkya but they're a reasonably popular deputy service too.

      If you can buy the item yourself, it can be easier to use a forwarding-only service like JapanToDoor or Tenso or Big In Japan. This gives you more control.

      It's really expensive using a deputy compared to buying directly, so I hope the listings will appear on normal websites very soon! In this case I'd probably recommend contacting CD Japan under the circumstances. They'll be able to advise on availability most knowledgeably and procure the versions you can't get from them directly if needed.

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    2. Thank you so very much for all of this info! We certainly can't blame Capcom for giving us lots of shiny new updates - which your page is fantastic for keeping up to date with, needs to be said!

      I may go with CD Japan just to be safe. I'm thinking of nabbing the Tamatebako edition as well, and was hoping it would go up on PlayAsia or the like today but it hasn't and I'm somewhat impatient... Would you say that's a better/more reliable idea than using somewhere like JapanToDoor, even though it can all go through amazon.jp?

      Thank you very much again for all your help! Going to save that post somewhere for future reference I think.

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    3. You're most welcome. I'm sure it will be fine but if you end up struggling to get hold of it feel free to say - I'm happy to help track a seller down if it does disappear fast. It's not even listed yet on other Japanese stores so it will probably appear everywhere else towards the end of the weekend (or on Monday) when Capcom finally get around to sending out the official solicitations.

      I suppose you could set up a forwarding account somewhere and reserve a copy on Amazon Japan, then just cancel it if you find it elsewhere and say you found it cheaper or something. It's a little mean to Amazon, however, I understand how it feels to be impatient after seeing such a gorgeous box :D

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  3. Yes wow so much news now! The release date is surprisingly soon. I always prefer for creators and companies to spend as much time as is needed to make something great, instead of rushing it. Hopefully SB4 is great and not rushed.

    Masamune's sword practice outfit was a good idea for an alt costume and it looks nice. And he is the most popular so Capcom really knows what they're doing here.

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    1. Yes; seeing that outfit (and the glorious special edition) made me rush and place an order without even stopping to think. Capcom's team are a cunning bunch ヽ(;´д`)ノ

      Hopefully all of the characters will get a wide selection of costumes, including some of the coolest alternate outfits from the older games.

      I'm trying to avoid too many spoilers by over-examining the new videos but gosh, it's really firing me up. Going to play some Utage this weekend...

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