Nintendo Wii owners in North America and Japan have been enjoying Atari and Namco Bandai's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 since 2007's last quarter, but fans in Europe were told they'd have to wait until January 25, 2008. The latest announcement, however, will have Europe waiting until mid-February for anime-style explosive action. More details in the full article.

Members of Atari's community forums are currently pointing out major problems to the online component of Nintendo Wii game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3. The issue mostly concerns lags, and we all know how lags can be bothersome to gamers.

Truth be told though, almost all online games will be hit by one of these one way or another, but the problem really magnifies when these lags begin disrupting gameplay. More on this after the jump!

  

As one of the longest running franchises in Japan, the Dragonball series is set to release its biggest ever video game on both the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2 platform with Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3. In an interview with Donny Clay, producer of the game over at Atari, he talks about the new online multiplayer aspect for the game and the many updates since it was first previewed during the E3 2007 event.

Clay mentioned that the new game has had many new improvements since Budokai Tenkaichi 2. The controls in particular are now less clunky and are more fluid ever since they decided to scrap the pointing cursor from the previous iteration. It was all about pushing the motion sensors on the Wiimote and the Nunchuk to the limit when pulling off the various moves in the game. He had this to say on the new features in terms of the controls:

I would say around 10 unique special motions for the Wii, much more than last time. And this time around, since we scratched the pointing cursor, all of these moves will be more interactive and rely on your body movements. For example, you won’t have to worry about moving the cursor off the screen to block or pull of special moves anymore. Just move your body in the motions necessary to pull off a Masenko, Kamehameha or Spirit Bomb and your character will perform the move, it’s that easy!

Since this will be the first time a Dragonball Z game will be featuring online play, Clay assured gamers that the code has been finely tuned to avoid lag and other problems when connecting to the Wi-fi network. However, it wasn't confirmed whether the game will work between regions.

Other features mentioned that gamers will be seeing in Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 will be optional Japanese language tracks for hardcore fans, as well as the disc fusion system exclusive to the PlayStation 2 to make up for its lack of online play. Clay also mentioned while the game won't be making an Xbox 360 appearance, they are currently working on other next gen projects for the series and told fans to keep their eyes peeled in the coming months.

Fans can expect the game to make it to stores this holiday season when the game will be released for both the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 2.

While we're all gearing up for some intense Saiyan-brawling action with the upcoming Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Nintendo Wii, it seems that Atari is doing the same. Except this time the publisher is preparing itself for a conflict that could decide if it keeps the rights to one of its most profitable franchises in history.

So, what's the deal? It seems that things, while already rough for Atari, are about to get rougher. After having five members of its board of directors being dismissed by Infogrames, U.S. anime firm FUNimation Entertainment is accusing Atari of breaching the agreements set between the two companies.

Because of this, FUNimation has declared that Atari will no longer be able to make Dragon Ball Z games, citing that the publisher's license to do so has been terminated. Of course, Atari isn't going down without a fight. As of this writing, the publisher still plans on distributing its DBZ games, and is now in talks with FUNimation to try and resolve their differences.

Here's hoping that everything works out in the end - after all, the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series has always been something to look forward to.

Calling all androids, apes, saiyans, and genetically-cloned green men. Atari's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2 home entertainment video game consoles has struck gold. In manufacturing lingo, that means that all the programming, localization, testing, and bug fixing needed to be done for the latest installment in the Tenkaichi series is now finished.

The game is ready to be burnt into Wii and PS2 discs, and is being prepped for a timely retail release on November 13 for the US. This is going to be the first Tenkaichi title to have online battles, so some of you might have it already as a must-have list for Christmas.

If Brawl isn't scheduled to come out until February, Tenkaichi 3 is sure to fill in that void.

Atari and Namco Bandai's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii and PS2 will be charging into retail shelves in the middle of November (on the 13th to be exact). And before that date hits, it's never going to hurt anyone to check out even more screens for the game.

It's the third installment in the series, and maybe some of you think that there won't be anything new. Well, think again. Aside from a bigger roster of playable characters to choose from, one of the biggest improvements in this Budokai Tenkaichi title is the support for online battles.

In these screens, we get to see more intense action. Battling off above the city skyline and charging up to Super Saiyan mode. Maaan. Android 17 is going to wake up tomorrow with a splitting headache.

 

More screens behind the Full Article link below!

On the latest update of Namco Bandai's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 official website, Arale finally appears among over 150 characters available in the game. Don't be surprised if you haven't heard of this girl from the Dr. Slump manga, because she's not exactly the popular chick around.

For fans of the Dragon Ball Z manga and anime series, she's remembered as the girl who helped Goku and his friends combat General Blue in a brief saga. She has been a favorite cameo that most Akira Toriyama followers love, but we're among those who can't imagine what she'll be doing in battle.

We've seen Arale in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 scans before, but we are yet to figure out how she'll fight. Will she pick up moves from her Jump Super Stars version, or offer a breathe of fresh air as a female character among burly guys oozing with testosterone? Time will tell, when the game hits the shelves this November 13.

Atari UK has released a whole bunch of screenshots for Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, featuring cute little Chi Chi fighting bad old Yam Cha. Although the reverse could also be true since Chi Chi seems to be kicking his ass in the screenshots.

Because they're only featuring already well-known characters, the screens don't give any clues as to whether or not the game will include the feature demanded by fans: custom character creation. So while we won't be able to know whether we can go Super Saiyan and beat each other up senseless and get up again after five minutes of dramatic dialogue, at least we still get to beat up our favorite Dragon Ball Z characters.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 will be out on November 13 for the US and October 4 for Japan. Check out the rest of the screenshots in the full article.

  

 

If you find yourself getting increasingly frustrated with Dragon Ball Z cliffhangers and the succeeding episodes that give you episode-long flashbacks and stare-downs between Son Goku and some regenerating opponent, you're not alone. Good thing there's Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 which lets you enjoy the action without the annoying stuff.

The Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi fighting game franchise from Namco Bandai is widely regarded as one of the best of its kind these days. The third installment is looking to pick up where the earlier two have left off with some new characters and features added. The scan above gives us a teaser of things to come when it hits. The artwork just oozes Toriyama, doesn't it?

The mighty Saiyan squad will be joined by the biggest cast the series has ever seen which now includes characters like King Vegeta, Namek warrior Nail and Selipa to name a few. Keep it here for more big blasts and power punches as we give you additional updates.

We've all seen the updates and progress of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii, and its safe to say that Namco Bandai is definitely listening to fans while creating this epic anime brawler. First of all, the huge cast of playable characters in the game is one good indication that ole' Namco Bandai is pulling out all the stops in giving fan service to hardcore DBZ fans. But what about the other popular fan request, the custom character creation?

Producer Donny Clay said that they want to include such a feature in the final game, but they haven't had a chance to fully explore the possibility of implementing such a cool feature. He didn't mention if this is due to hardware, or due to time constraints, but Clay did promise that he will look into including a full custom character creation feature in future DBZ games.

We certainly do hope that such a nifty function will be included in later DBZ titles, complete with the Akira Toriyama look that all Dragon Ball Z fans know and love.