Skullgirls' Big Band Now Available On Steam & PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Version Also Coming With Compatibility Update

The second downloadable character for Skullgirls is now complete and released to the public. Big Band, who takes several fighting and visual cues from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike's Q along with various others, joins Squigly and the original cast as the first male character in the game. He had previously only been playable in the ongoing Skullgirls beta test on Steam.

Along with Big Band, this Skullgirls update includes a new story mode, "complete character tutorials," and a brand new stage.

Owners of Skullgirls will be receiving the character including those on Xbox 360. Players can update the game to Skullgirls Encore through a mandatory update as well as a compatibility pack featuring all of the current changes and additions to the game (Directions: 1, 2).

For a look at what Big Band can do, check out the trailer after the jump!

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The Daily Blow Up! Round Up: Week Of Feb. 16 - 22, 2014

Here are the past episodes of The Daily Blow Up! from the past week!

Harrison did two editions for Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Ver. 2012 which features first to five session with a player not having the best connection. You can find Harrison stream The Daily Blow Up! throughout the work week. LordWalkman will return on Saturdays for Skullgirls play. Arcade Shock's Giby & Hellpockets took a break on Sunday but stay tuned for their return!

You can find the videos after the jump and find past episodes on our YouTube playlist!

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Skullgirls Encore Available On Jan. 2014 Following PlayStation Store & Xbox Live Marketplace Delisting

The console version of Skullgirls will be rereleased with a new digital distribution.

Skullgirls will be removed from both Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store only to be readded as the retitled "Skullgirls Encore." Developer Lab Zero Games will be bringing Skullgirls Encore to consoles with an expected January 2014 date. Owners of the PC version will be unaffected.

For those who currently own the existing console builds, Lab Zero provided a breakdown of what owners should expect. If you own any of the North American console versions, you can find the breakdown after the jump! For international users, you can read the full post featuring an overview of the situation with regards to co-publisher Autumn Games and former distributor Konami.

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Skullgirls Free-To-Play Weekend; 33% Off Until Monday

In case anyone was thinking about trying the new Skullgirls revisions and have yet to purchase the PC version now is the perfect time to try the game. Best off all, you can currently play the game for free. As of now you can log into Steam and download the game and play it until Sunday.

Along with being able to play it for free, if you've been holding out for a lower price the game is currently 33% off so the already frugal price of $14.99 has been lowered to $9.99 until 10AM on Monday. It should be noted that the 33% off is also for any multi-packs and color DLC, but as of now Squigly is still free DLC at the moment if you buy the game. This offer won't last though so if you find yourself enjoying the game definitely now is a great time to pick it up as she won't be around the time Big Band comes out if you haven't already downloaded her.

The bottom line is nothing will hurt to try out this game so get on Steam and download it from your games list. Hopefully you'll enjoy the game as much as I do, and as always play well and play often.

Yatagarasu: Attack On Cataclysm & Skullgirls Covered In Giant Bomb Feature About Crowdfunding Conflicts With PayPal

Two successfully crowdfunded fighting games were some that fell victim to actions by online business service PayPal.

Giant Bomb's Patrick Klepek did a special feature about PayPal locking away a set amount of money from developers and publishers who had successful campaigns. Along with struggles for adventure game Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey and developer Red Thread Games, both Yatagarasu: Attack On Cataclysm and Skullgirls were examined. Seon King, founder of Yatagarasu's publisher Nyu Media, and Peter Bartholow, founder of Skullgirls developer Lab Zero Games, talked about their interactions with PayPal following the lockouts.

You can find an excerpt after the jump but if you want to read the full article, read here!

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Review: Skullgirls (PC)

After much anticipation from fans and computer gamers alike, the PC version of Skullgirls was released on Aug. 22 through Steam. This is indeed a port of the console version, but thanks to the folks at Marvelous AQL developer Lab Zero Games have had more time to optimize this version. The PC build provides better online features, improved game balance and more chraracters funded by the fans. In short, Skullgirls on Steam is probably the best version of Skullgirls yet.

As a fighting game Skullgirls feels like a mix of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Guilty Gear XX and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. There are assists, air dashes, push blocks, great and intuitive normals, two button supers, two button throws and much more. The game allows players to select team size as well, giving them the option of one super powered character, two normal powered characters or three weaker characters. While having a team of three would be considered weaker because of the lower vitality and damage rating, the addition of assists and delayed hyper combos the combination can be incredibly effective. The weakest from a competitive standpoint is probably a solo character, but with proper defense and effective offense plowing through enemies can be a breeze. However, the lack of assists forces players to take more risks that may or may not succeed.

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Skullgirls PC Preorder and PC Beta Tournament

Today on Steam Skullgirls is available for preorder, and if you purchase it now you will gain entry to the PC beta so you can play the latest version of the game. At the same time there will be a tournament for the PC beta version that has free entry, but act quickly because there are only 1024 spaces available for the tournament so sign up quickly!

Keep checking back for more info as I recieve it, sign up for the tournament, and play well and play often. Hit the jump for some excerpts for the info on the sign up page.

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Skullgirls Beta Changes and News from Salty Cupcakes 7/18/13

If it feels like it has been such a long time since we last met, well, maybe it's because it has been! First, Lab Zero was busy with Anime Expo's booth and panel. Then of course they showed up for their tournament at the EVO Championship 2013 (Information can be found here, Congrats Duckator!) 

So after all that the team is back and has some work to show for it. Most if not all of the updates will also be reflected in the PC Beta tonight or tomorrow, so you'll also be able to see what shiny new assets and juicy new changes we have to play with, so let's begin!

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EVO 2013: Skullgirls PC Version & Divekick Arriving August 2013

Skullgirls and Divekick were both featured at Evolution 2013, and fans of the games won't have to wait long as they will be arriving this coming August!

While the console version of Skullgirls is currently available, it will be arriving on PC platforms through Steam on August 22, 2013, with pre-orders available on the service starting on August 1, 2013.

Iron Galaxy Studio's Divekick is nearing release as well. It is dated for August 20, 2013, for both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita; the PC version still in development.

Skullgirls PC Beta now Released

The Fourth of July is a day with a lot of meaning to me. It is the day that gives me, as an American, the confidence to believe a land full of hope, opportunity and freedom. With that said, the day also held something else near and dear to me: the release of the Skullgirls PC Beta!

That's right folks, the PC Beta has been released to all of the backers that paid into funding the game's additional characters. Each of those kind-hearted individuals can log into his or her Humble Bundle account, get a Steam code, and redeem it to play one of the best games (in my opinion) to be released recently.

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Skullgirls: Beta Changes & News from Salty Cupcakes June 27, 2013

Another week, another beta update. This one should get you really excited as the PC releases beta is coming out, potentially, soon! Unfortunately the beta is plagued with an online desync issue so the release isn't out just yet, but with any luck we'll have it within two weeks, so as they say: patience is virtue.

Before the patch notes though I need to reiterate the fact that if you want to play Skullgirls at EVO, you need to sign up now as EVO Badge sign up are ending on June 30th so get in there! Also don't forget to check out Mike Z's To-Do list and the Community Ran Update Google Doc for some more insight and a second source for the info!

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Skullgirls: Beta Changes and News from Salty Cupcakes 6/20/13

It's past the mid-week and Thursday night again which means it's time for Salty Cupcakes and of course the new update to the beta platform. I'd like to mention again to sign up for Skullgirls at EVO and to remind everyone that the version of the game will be played on the Skullgirls 1.01 Slightly Different Edition so practice up.

In other news there will be a Skullgirls Booth and Panel at Anime Expo so if you really like the team and would like to know more about the development process behind the game and are headed to AX drop in and watch what will be an interesting show.

Skullgirls Changes 6-20-13

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Skullgirls: Beta Changes and News from Salty Cupcakes 6/13/13

Thursday is a wonderful day as once again we have Salty Cupcakes in Southern California which means that there are more Skullgirls balance changes. I must reiterate the fact that you should sign up for Skullgirls at EVO as time is of the essence. It should also be noted they have decided the tournament will be played on the Skullgirls 1.01 Slightly Different Edition which is the version everyone has right now so be sure to practice up.

This week marks Squigly being almost 100% complete with only needing one more move to be completes and a few more animations needing to be cleaned up which should get all of you excited as the first DLC is that much closer to release.

Like always don't forget to check out Mike Z's To-Do List and the Community Ran Google Doc for more info and potentially cover anything I've missed. Hit the full view for the latest changes.

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Skullgirls: Beta Changes and News from Salty Cupcakes 6/6/13

So again it is Thursday and there is more news and updates for Skullgirls at Salty Cupcakes. Before I get to the changes I must reitterate that you should all sign up for Skullgirls at EVO as tomorrow is the last day to sign up for only $5 because after Friday June 7th the price will rise to $10 for pre-registration and $15 for on site registration. Also remember you have to have a badge for EVO if you want to play any side tournaments or to be in the hall so sign up for EVO as well. Also remember other than this post you can find Mike Z's To-Do list and the community ran Google Doc for current and older info by clicking the links.

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Skullgirls: Beta Changes from Salty Cupcakes 5/30/13

As every Thursday, there was another Salty Cupcakes event for Skullgirls. The stream is over and if you missed it you can definitely check it out after the fact from the videos section of the channel.

If you live in Southern California, you can click on the event link for information about its whereabouts so if at all possible make it out to try the game. If not the amazing GGPO netcode is great for playing online. Hit the jump to read the new changes for this week.

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Skullgirls Hits Japanese Arcades Via Way of Taito's NESiCA

In case you haven't already heard something truly amazing has happened for the folks at Lab Zero Games as their amazing game Skullgirls is now going to be available for Japanese arcade players via Taito's NESiCA platform. This is truly amazing as they are probably the first and only American-made fighting game to be widely available in Japan on the NESiCA. This is confirmed by the official Skullgirls twitter and by Lab Zero Games CEO Peter Bartholow showing his excitement on NeoGAF.

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Skullgirls Beta Changes from Salty Cupcakes 5/23/13

So as you may know I'm a huge Skullgirls fan and I'm always chomping a the bit for the latest information, so it would be safe to assume I'm tuning into to Salty Cupcakes, which happens every Thursday starting at 8PM PST on http://twitch.tv/eightysixed so in order to keep you guys updated I'm going to try and update or link to as much information as I've heard of on the front page so definitely check out the stream and here for a list of the latest changes. Keep in mind these are beta changes and are subject to change before the next patch comes out.

• General Changes
  • The input for taunts are going to be difficult inputs from other games
    • Ex. Peacock's taunt is the same input as Hsien-ko's Tenraiha (LK,HK,MP,MP,Up)
    • Not going to have incredibly difficult inputs such as pretzel motion for a taunt
  • Changed HUD scaling to screen scaling to allow the resizing of the screen to not have any cut off

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Skullgirls: Beowulf Announced Second Mystery Downloadable Character, PC Beta This June

The second mystery character vote has finished to complete who will be included as downloadable content in Skullgirls!

The retired wrestler Beowulf will be joining Squigly, Big Band, Robo-Fortune, and Eliza as part of the downloadable character cast! While there might not be any content of his playstyle just yet, stay tuned for more info but you can check out the initial speculation information after the jump!

News of the PC beta for Indiegogo backers is now dated for a mid-June release to examine Squigly as well as network and balance configurations. For those who want to get into the beta but didn't back up during the initial fund have another chance!

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Skullgirls: Version 1.01 On Xbox 360 Now Available, Requires Title Update And Additional Data Download

For you Skullgirls players on Xbox 360, the latest major patch for the game is finally available on the console.

Even with the file size limitations for a title update patch presented by Microsoft, Lab Zero Games found a way to get the new content as well as balance changes in the 1.01 patch to work. After downloading the mandatory 7MB update when initializing Skullgirls while online on Xbox Live, you must download an additional 273MB "Skullgirls required compatibility update" found on either the Xbox Live Marketplace or the in-game download menu.

Get downloading and practice before the EVO 2012 side tournament! Check out the official patch notes here!

Skullgirls: First Mystery Character Download To Be Eliza

The fans have chosen the first mystery character as the fourth downloadable combatant for Skullgirls!

Following many rounds of the many possible characters being narrowed down, the fans voted for Eliza to join the official Skullgirls cast! She will be the fourth downloadable character next to the already confirmed three: Squigly, Big Bang, and Robo-Fortune. Eliza will also receive the benefit of having her own stage and story journey! The announcement of Eliza was followed by the commencement of the second mystery character voting process.

You can check out a rough concept video of Eliza's mechanics as well as her info on her universe background and playstyle speculation after the jump!

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