Sammy Private Show: Guilty Gear X

The Japanese software developer Sammy held a private show in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, and our correspondent was there to cover it. The show's main focus was on the arcade version of Guilty Gear X. The game has 14 characters to select from, including several from the previous installment in the series. GGX has several new features, such as "fortress defense," which lets you use your special gauge to block any attack, and "roman cancel," which lets you create your own chain combos that give it a satisfying game balance for both hard-core and novice players. The series has gained its popularity during the short absence of fighting games from Capcom and SNK. At the show, there was a constant flow of people lining up to play Guilty Gear X.

The development of the game has been completed at this point, as both the Japanese and North American versions were developed concurrently. The development team took about two years to develop the game almost from scratch. Although developed by the same team responsible for the first title on the PlayStation, developing GGX on a completely new and different board (the NAOMI board) was a factor in the long development time.

The company informed us, though, that development of a console version has not begun, and the decision to do so has not even been made yet. GGX was designed for the arcade without a port in mind. This way, the developers didn't have to sacrifice certain elements of the game. That does not mean a port is never going to happen, though. Also, Sammy pointed out that, if the game is ported, it might not necessarily be a port to the Dreamcast, which would be an obvious choice since it uses the NAOMI board. The company says that if there is more demand for a PS2 port, then the game may be ported to that console instead.

Guilty Gear X is scheduled to appear on arcades in Japan this month and shortly after in North America.