PixlBit

A crazy new strategy-RPG is in the works. Can you say "crossover"?

For a whole legion of fanboys and girls, the fact that the Capcom and Namco team-up strategy game Namco x Capcom never made it to North America was a tragedy. Even though the game was reportedly average at best, the idea of two major Japanese companies mashing all of their franchises into a massive strategy-RPG was a tantalizing thought. Well, those fanboys and girls may have another shot at the crossover insanity, with an extra company thrown into the mix. Enter Project X Zone (the “x” is pronounced “cross” as before), a new strategy-RPG featuring characters from Capcom, Namco Bandai, and Sega. Before your head explodes, consider reading on.

Details are somewhat sparse at the moment, as the information comes from the latest issue of the popular Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. The game looks to be set up very similarly to Namco x Capcom, with characters teaming up to unleash all manner of normal and special attacks. You can expect to see all of these characters' signature moves, such as Ken and Ryu’s Dragon Punch, Dante’s air juggle, and Jill Valentine’s rocket launcher.

Project x Zone is surprisingly done with sprite art, which means some of these characters are getting the 2D hand-drawn look for the first time. The roster is obviously going to be huge. Of course there are no-brainer characters like Ken and Ryu (Street Fighter), Pai and Akira (Virtua Fighter), and Tekken’s Jin and Ling Xiaoyu. But there are some surprising appearances from Space Channel 5’s Ulala, Tales of Vesperia’s Yuri, and even Black Rose from the .Hack series.

According to an interview with Kensuke Tsukanaka from Namco Bandai, the game is about 50% complete, and they hope to release the game in Japan this year. No word on a U.S. release of course, but we here at PixlBit will be keeping a close eye on this one. We don't have footage of this game yet, but take a look at some gameplay of Namco x Capcom for a good idea of what this new crossover should look like.