PlayStation All-Stars launches Oct. 23

Sony announced today that PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, the company's, well, Super Smash Bros. clone, will land on store shelves on Oct. 23, according to the PlayStation Blog. Both the PS Vita and PlayStation 3 versions of the title, which will allow cross-platform play, launch the same day, allowing us to finally answer the burning question: Who would win in a bar fight, Kratos or the Fat Princess?

Aside from revealing its launch date, the PlayStation Blog revealed the brawler's pre-order bonuses, which you can take a gander at above in the form of alternate costumes for All-Stars' playable characters. (I must say, Kratos does a pretty mean Leonidas impression.) These costumes will only be available to folks who pre-order, so if you want them, make sure to do so.

Oh, and those two question marks on the right and left side of that above screenshot? They're the two yet-to-be-revealed characters in All-Stars; they'll both be revealed at 6:00 p.m. PST today at EVO in Las Vegas.

Who's missing from that lineup who you feel needs to be there? Or are you forgoing All-Stars altogether and waiting on Nintendo's next Smash Bros. title, which will apparently have a "change of direction" with its roster of characters?

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Jonathan Stark Jul 6, 2012

Can I just say now that this is possibly the least interesting line up of "classic" characters I've ever seen? I like the possibilities of different play styles (I hope Big Daddy controls differently from Parappa the Rappa for instance) but I just have no interest in watching Sly Cooper beat up "some dude" from Killzone.

Who are the other two blokes gonna be? The petal from Flower and Ico?

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Mike Suskie Freelancer Jul 6, 2012

I knew it was a shot in the dark, but I was really pulling for Guy From Resistance to show up. I guess I'll have to wait for PlayStation All-Stars Melee for that wish to be fulfilled.

I can't wait for Microsoft to take a go at this so I can live my lifelong dream of pitting one of the Crackdown agents against Blinx the Time Sweeper.

You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.

Jonathan Stark Jul 6, 2012

Of course we all should've guessed a Tekken character and a cat no one has ever heard of would be the other two characters.

Honestly, if the game had Jade, from Beyond Good and Evil, and Wander from Shadow of the Collossus, I might have picked it up. You know, interesting characters. Not "random fucking cat."

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Mike Suskie Freelancer Jul 6, 2012

As I mentioned only a few days ago, one of the big problems Smash Bros. eventually faced was that Nintendo didn't know how to improve it other than simply expanding, and by the time they hit Brawl, they had to (a) dig to the bottom of the bag and resort to obscurity for new content, and (b) pull from non-exclusive franchises. Sony is already doing both of those things on their first go at it.

You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.

baller brand Jul 7, 2012 edited

I feel like this game should of focused more on certain franchises instead. A fighting game mash up, a Square Enix theme, something. The icons here don't have enough value to make for any kind of chemistry. Also could of worked better if they didn't market it as a Smash Bros game. Nintendo can work the cartoon charm, but for Sony they need to take a different direction.

Ico and Wander in the next Smash Bros game on WiiU would be awesome =]

Mobius 1, engage...

Rhody Tobin Freelancer Jul 7, 2012

The "cat no one has ever heard of" is PlayStation's mascot in Japan.

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Jason Venter Staff Jul 7, 2012

That sounds like a problem for Sony, if no one has heard of it. Are you sure that at least some people in Japan haven't heard of it? Because that would be bad.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world

Jonathan Stark Jul 7, 2012

Wonderful. A mascot that is centric to one country being used worldwide as a character to carry over a roster of what is supposed to be the most well known Sony characters. Too bad they don't have something a little more recognizable like, oh I don't know, a plumber. Or a hedgehog.

I think Holdthephone brings up a really good point about this sort of cartoony fighter not making a lot of sense as a PS3 release. This may sound nuts, but I'd have been more excited if all of these characters appeared in a third person shooter/action game mash up. That gets me more excited and seems to fit with every single one of these guys (except fat princess who just doesn't belong in any game not titled "Fat Princess") better.

Like, I can imagine Nathan Drake crouched behind cover taking pot shots at the Killzone guy (also crouched behind cover) when both are distracted by the Big Daddy tearing through the arena and charging after them. The Killzone guy is caught and torn to pieces and Nathan goes to flee, only to find himself face to face with Kratos, who stabs the shit out of him.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Joseph Shaffer Staff Jul 7, 2012

I keep thinking of a condition under which I might try this game, and I honestly can't think of one. I'm sure it plays just fine, but it's not in any way interesting.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

Jason Venter Staff Jul 7, 2012

When Sony demonstrated the game at E3 (I think it was in the main media event), I grew bored watching long before the players were done. The game just looks confusing and honestly quite bland. I figure it must be better in person, and it still has time to improve ahead of launch, but consider this one game that I'm not in a hurry to try firsthand.

Genj Jul 7, 2012 edited

I feel like with this and Smash Bros, the average person is going to care about what characters they can play as more than anything, and I really hope this isn't the full roster. The inclusion of Toro is pretty weird. I recognize the character, but had no clue who he was until this announcement. On the other hand, Heihachi feels like a pretty appropriate choice to me. Tekken 2 & 3 were pretty big deals when they were exclusively on the PlaySation for home consoles. He's a hell of a lot more appropriate than Big Daddy, a character that actually came to PlayStation 3 a whole year after the PC & 360 versions. Honestly I really wanted this game to have more PSX era characters (first and third party) and instead it seems to be a few legit good choices like Nate & Kratos and a few WTF choices like Fat Princess and Radec aka 'Killzone guy.'

Jonathan Stark Jul 8, 2012

I am genuinely confused as to the absence of ICO and Jade. Playstation exclusives (well, I actually don't know if Beyond Good and Evil was exclusive), both pretty well known or at least very recognizable, both of which have games (supposedly) in the works which could benefit from a advertisement to the general public in the form of a big release fighting game, and both appropriate characters for a melee fight.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Mike Suskie Freelancer Jul 8, 2012

I have personally played Beyond Good & Evil on four platforms that aren't PlayStation (Xbox, GameCube, PC, and Xbox 360). So no, it is not exclusive.

You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.

Genj Jul 8, 2012 edited

I don't think Beyond Good & Evil is that well known. The game became known among core gamers on the Internet mainly after it commercially bombed in spite of positive reviews. Once retailers started trying to give their stock away only a month or two after release (a lot of stores either sold it for $10 or gave it away free with Sands of Time and/or Splinter Cell - I ended up spending about $7 on a used copy), a lot of people bought it and felt it was a really good deal for the price. It was frequently cited as one of the "most underrated games" and it would almost always come up in purchasing suggestion topics on GameFAQs. It's a decent to passable adventure game. The story, game world, and atmosphere are easily the game's biggest strength. Unfortunately the combat & puzzles/platforming are easy enough for a 6 year to breeze through and it only took me about 6 hours to do everything in the game. It's a relatively lesser known title that grew a cult following that over-exaggerate its merits. The sequel has been in development hell for years. Ezio Auditore would draw more interest from most.

Jason Venter Staff Jul 8, 2012

I would go so far as to say that its PS2 version is probably the least recognized of all of them, based on any fan reaction I've ever seen. And as Genj notes, it's not an especially major game, even after being available for so many platforms. Ezio would indeed be a superior option.

One reason we're not seeing more familiar characters is likely the cost of licensing. Sony doesn't own the rights to Crash and Spyro, two of its major characters from the early days who would be natural choices (that distinction goes to Activision, who purchased Sierra, who purchased the rights). A lot of the Sony characters that haven't already been announced have mostly niche appeal, such as the Ico kid or whatever. The reality for Sony is that it's stuck with a roster half full of characters that would be considered obscure by Nintendo standards--the equivalent of Captain Falcon or the Fire Emblem dude--and yet still Sony is trying to make a Smash Bros. clone. In Sony's defense, though, there's not really a first-party publisher with a deep roster of mascots. For that matter, SEGA or Capcom probably comes closer!

Jonathan Stark Jul 8, 2012

I only bring up these other options in light of the fact that Sony has created a fighting game featuring FAT PRINCESS. It just blows my mind. Hell, Nathan Cole would have been nice to see, or (if they are bringing in third party characters like Big Daddy) the Prince of Persia. Any of the assassin's from Assassin's Creed, the dude from the new Deus Ex game, so on and so forth.

That said, I think Jason is absolutely right. The cost of acquiring these characters that Sony doesn't specifically own is almost certainly what held the roster back.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

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