Ivy's straps and new Rumble Roses XX downloads

The latest issue of EGM has a very cool exclusive on Soul Calibur IV. The two most interesting bits for costume fans are that the leather straps on Ivy's leg cause real-time skin identations (!) and the create-a-character mode will get tons more custom options. Maaaan 2008 is feeling like an eternity now. You can check out the issue here if you don't mind downloading the e-reader.

Rumble Roses XX new marketplace items

1 year and 3 months post release, Konami gets around to offering paid downloadable content for Rumble Roses XX. The first initial batch was the generic gamer pics assortments. Snore.

The other more recent delivery is as intriguing as it is disturbing. You can purchase the standard and superstar costumes of some characters. I think there are supposed to be more made available as the weeks go on.

In the standard game, almost every outfit in the game was available across all characters except for the regular and superstar outfits, so on one hand, it’s nice that this is being unlocked. Also nice is that once you purchase, say Rowdy Reiko’s superstar outfit, every character has access to it. None of that “you have to buy it separately for everybody” nonsense.

The disturbing part is that this clearly should have been a free feature. I would be more than happy to purchase brand new outfits not already available in the game, but this offer doesn’t feel quite right.

Now the question is, are these paid content items a sign that Konami is interested in making another RR game and is gauging interest? Nothing speaks louder than dollars when it comes to hearing from your fans. OR, did Konami see what Tecmo and the Idol Master people were doing and wanted to cash in on a dead franchise with desperate fans?

And even if this leads to a new RR game on either the 360 or PS3, will it have as much free content as we’re used to or will they hold back the majority of costumes to nickel and dime us?

That said, some users on the ero ja nai keredo boards have posted screens with some outfits and there are some interesting combos. I’m not crazy about Mistress Spencer’s outfit on Reiko, but the kimono is killer. I haven’t played the game in a while, but I think it’s BBD’s superstar outfit.

I like the concept of Miss Spencer and Candy in the Mistress outfit and Rowdy Reiko looks ok in it too.

Reiko in not bad in Aisha’s superstar outfit (or was it Sista A?), but Aisha in Rowdy Reiko’s standard costume is an awesome fit.

Crap like is tempting me to make some purchases, but I haven’t played RR XX in a long while. I was actually more tempted to purchase the costume packs for DOAX 2, but their high prices kept me away. The RR XX prices are lower (80 points vs. 400), but you get less. It might be better to use that money to buy a discounted Bullet Witch and enjoy the free costume downloads.