A recent press release by D3Publisher of America has announced that they have just entered an agreement with Vicious Cycle Software, where the makers of the Vicious Engine for consoles, handhelds and PC platforms shall become a subsidiary of D3PA after the agreement pulls through.

 

D3Publisher was signed up as Vicious Cycle Software's publisher for Dead Head Fred for the PSP, but it appears that D3Publisher wishes to extend their relations with the North Carolina-based developer studio for a much longer time. And Vicious Cycle will be marked their first true internal developer studio as soon as the share acquisition agreement is successfully concluded.

"Having worked with D3PA for the past few years, we know the company shares our passion for creative excellence and our commitment to quality," said Eric Peterson, president of Vicious Cycle Software. He added that they are excited to be part of the D3Publisher family and providing their skills and talents to D3PA's game portfolio.

Details of the agreement seems to affect nothing throughout the management of Vicious Cycle, as the current leadership will not be changed nor shall the studio be moved from North Carolina. That said, financial figures pertaining to the acquisition have not been revealed, however.

Vicious Cycle Software, founded back in 2000 by former MicroProse game developers, is a developer for titles for a broad range of customers, including educational titles for children and action games for the mobile gamers. Their works include titles that were released on the Sony PS2, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube. They have recently focused a development effort toward the Windows platforms.

However, since the release of their Vicious Engine middleware solution, they have delivered a cross-platform edge for games on both the next-gen and current-gen consoles. The Vicious Engine was conceptualized back in 2005, but recent improvements to the software allowed the engine to be the first to extend toward the Wii and the PSP.

Gaming site IGN recently had a talk with Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ Producer Yoshinobu Amatsuo regarding the game's development, as well as a few of its more interesting details. As we all know, Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ will hit North America this Fall, courtesy of publishers D3 Publisher of America (D3PA) and Tomy Corporation.

In the Q&A, Amatsuo assured fans that the new title, while having some new content, will remain true and loyal to the whole Naruto series. He mentioned that the final details of the missions are still being tweaked as of now, but that the story will follow the anime series. He also hinted that the game will take place during the Chuunin examinations.

Regarding gameplay, the basic light and heavy combo system, together with super-combo attacks, will be implemented and the Wiimote will be put to good use. Amatsuo explained,

The special attacks will have varying motion inputs. Some inputs require you to swing the Wii remote up or down while other specials will require you to twirl the remote with specific timing. Some attacks will also use the motion sensing in the Nunchuk, as well. Some gestures will be shared among characters, but the gestures are varied enough that they won't be identical in terms of timing and execution.

The producer remarked that the reason for having this consistency all across the series is because Naruto is a trademarked game, meaning the moves have to be similar with the anime series that it was based on. Game designers always try their best to bring the essence of the characters from the TV series. About characters from previous titles making coming back, Amatsuo said,

Where we're including characters from previous games, if the animations for the attacks are the same, then they'll be reworked to meet the Wii specs. However, for new characters and new attacks, including new special attacks, the animations will be newly created.

Lastly, in case you weren't aware, Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ will sport several mini games aside from the characters' main missions. Amatsuo revealed that in this aspect of the video game, the North American version will be similar to the released Japanese version with a just a few modifications,

The content will be adjusted to fit with the current U.S. TV release schedule. They will have different gameplay mechanics to the main game but will use techniques that you learn in the game. One game uses the ability the throw shuriken, one is a game based around Naruto's clone jutsu technique and another gives you the opportunity to practice Naruto's Rasengan.