Blade Kitten is coming to the Playstation Network very soon now

Company
Krome Studios

We're close to getting a new look at Krome Studio's Blade Kitten in the next few hours as a press release has been given out to media announcing a release time frame for the game adaptation of the comic by Krome's Creative Director, Steve Stamatiadis. A new trailer will make its first appearance on Game Trailers sometime today which we'll hopefully be able to embed here.

The previous trailer, released in August last year, was met with some blunt criticisms from visitors on tsumea and a call for some constructive criticism, so it's hoped that Krome Studios have made some vast improvements to the game within the last six months since we've last seen of it.

(Press release)

Based on the “Blade Kitten” comic book series by creator Steve Stamatiadis, Krome Studios is bringing bounty hunter Kit Ballard to digital life with the Blade Kitten downloadable video game. The action adventure game, developed by Krome Studios, is set for release on the PlayStation(R)Network from PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system in Spring 2010.

“Blade Kitten is a brain child of mine that originated as a comic series,” said Steve Stamatiadis, Krome co-founder and creative director, who also created the multi-million selling Ty the Tasmanian TigerTM series. “Bringing Kit’s anime-inspired universe to life is a milestone for us, and we’re excited to open her world up to gamers on the PlayStation Network.”

Blade Kitten invites players into the world of Hollow Wish, where they take on the role of Kit Ballard, one of the best bounty hunters in the business. With her pink hair and tail, Kit is part cat, part girl - and fully lethal. As one of the last of her species, Kit commands her unique “Darque Blade” hovering sword to defeat enemies. Also along for the ride is Skiffy, Kit’s laid-back sidekick who lends a hand in collecting items, solving puzzles, and when needed, serves as Kit’s protector.

Blade Kitten goes beyond most downloadable titles to deliver a strong narrative, with high-quality cinematics, and a colorful, frenetic visual style, that lends to the pick-up-and-play arcade action. Players will jump right in and easily begin exploring and fighting their way through 19 levels, including three exploration levels with Noot (a rideable alien mount).

Blade Kitten will be released as a two-part mini-series available exclusively via digital distribution on the PlayStation(R)Network from PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system.

The Blade Kitten trailer and gameplay will be revealed tonight, Thursday, February 18, exclusively on Game Trailers TV at 12:30 am ET/PT on Spike TV in the US, and shortly after the episode airs on GameTrailers.com in glorious High Definition.

For more information on Blade Kitten, please visit www.bladekitten.com

Video Games | Blade Kitten | Exclusive Debut Trailer HD

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 18/02/10 - 11:12 PMPermalink

Kromes Merkury allows thier games to be compiled for any of PC, Wii, PS3, or XBOX 360. XBOX just happens to be the easiest platform to develop on as far as debugger integration and tools go.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 19/02/10 - 9:10 AMPermalink

trailer on the website is laughingly shocking! Let's hope the trailer brings some credibility back to krome.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 19/02/10 - 11:01 AMPermalink

I'm not sure whether I want to cry or vomit. Or both, simultaneously. It seems like this will somehow be representing Australian Game Development, and it's like watching your child slowly burn to death in a car accident.

Bladekitten should be the mascot of deviantART; a place for furries and badly drawn anime.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 19/02/10 - 8:39 PMPermalink

Game looks like a more than solid side-scroller. The cell-shaded art really does it justice and I think its the best looking game to come out of Australia in yonks. Here's to hoping it garners some critical or commercial success.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 19/02/10 - 11:09 AMPermalink

From Steves Twitter:

@manniefold Harder to get 360 nowdays maybe later. Just making the game I want to play there's already plenty of beige space marine games :)

That was in response to a comment on PS3 exclusivity. Seems to imply that the game is only on PSN because it could not get on Live? That seems strange as even though this game will obviously not be to everyones taste (no matter how good it is) I doubt it will be anywhere near as bad as plenty of the stuff that does get on Live.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 19/02/10 - 11:23 AMPermalink

Doesn't PSN require 3 separate submission for locales? I thought the reason XBLA was so inundated with crap was partly due to MS requiring only one submission, thus making it slightly less costly.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 19/02/10 - 9:52 PMPermalink

Looks great. Some of the comments here are just mean spirited. Either you like the game or you don't. No need to be an ass about it if you don't.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 19/02/10 - 10:36 PMPermalink

Some of the comments on this page disgust me, especially those making personal attacks. I know I'd much rather be the guy who owns a successful game dev studio and is able to publish his own original IP, than some bitter faceless douchebag who flames the hard work of others on the internet without providing anything constructive or unsightful.

BTW judging from the gameplay trailer, Blade Kitten looks like a great PSN title. Go Krome.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/02/10 - 12:24 AMPermalink

I did have hopes for I but after seeing that....

From all reports they've had 20+ guys working on it for a while now and honestly.... that trailer looks pretty piss poor if it's true. It really does look like a student's portfolio, especially in the animation quality and bland, generic gameplay. I expected much better from a team of that size. I can't see Krome having a hit like TY out of this and it will be sad to see the mighty giant once again be forced to shed staff.

Submitted by designerwatts on Sat, 20/02/10 - 1:11 AMPermalink

I’d like to give some comments about the gameplay trailer.

Keep in mind that the points I’m raising are observations from watching the gameplay trailer and nothing more. I have no bias towards the game itself either good or bad. Although being a game developed in Australia I’d like to see it reach a point of financial success. As I would any Australian owned game.

What I like about the trailer:

I know what the product is: I understand what this game is and what it offers. It’s a linear 2D platformer. Looks a little bit inspired from Mega Man X and old school Ninja Gaiden.

Ninja Moves: Seems like the character can slide and wall jump. If level design is any good then that can make for some interesting gameplay set-pieces.

Big boss battles: Giant enemy man-crab.

What I don’t like:

Music: The music is actually distracting me from watching the trailer. Feels like it's trying to over power the video.

What’s with the sword?: Why does the sword float around with you? Is it actually a character? It’s a weapon I would think. Therefore it’s either in the characters hand slicing stuff or strapped to her back. Just looks a bit odd having a sword trailing behind the character.

Environment doesn’t look right: It’s hard to tell kind of environment the character is in. The environments look interesting. But it’s missing the attention to visual detail that I’ve seen in other Krome games. Everything looks barebones.

To give any advice to Krome in this Franchise: If you want me to give a damm about the characters and story. Dedicate at the least a 1-minute promotional video to explain the plot and characters of Blade Kitten. I’m currently watching them interact without any context or understanding.

What are you selling to your customers? Just a pure game or a story wrapped in a game? It feels undecided at the moment.

My current impression of Blade Kitten is that it’s a simple linear 2D action platformer made for digital download. Based off a comic I’m unfamiliar with. As said above an exposition based trailer can address the issue of unfamiliarity.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/02/10 - 9:46 AMPermalink

Oh, sorry. I'll go back in time and fly to America to check that out. I agree with Anon. They trailer showed snippets of gameplay that might be enjoyable if the level design doesn't suck (and lets face it - Krome design is subpar at best) but I don't like the universe at all and nothing had a context.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/02/10 - 10:21 AMPermalink

Lol...A lot of these posts remind me of when I was in a band and looking down at the musicians in the crowd with their arms crossed and sneers on their faces while the rest of the pub rocked on.
Reading around other forums it seems that BK is getting quite a bit of interest and positive reactions from the new trailer. I'm thinking the dev team will be pretty happy with the results when the game is released.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/02/10 - 7:19 PMPermalink

Well...You develop an eye for it. They're the ones in the crowd that stare and over analyze everything...hoping...waitng for a mistake so they can feel better about themselves. Still they are the ones who had to pay to get in the door.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 21/02/10 - 10:27 AMPermalink

That makes no sense. Your gigs were tiny enough that you could observe people in the crowd with that detail, and you seem to be making things up in your head to feel good about yourself.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 22/02/10 - 4:24 PMPermalink

I have for many years. If I see people who don't have beaming grins and twinkles in their eyes I don't automatically assume they wish me ill. In fact if one of my band members acted the way you are, I'd tell them to wake up to themselves. Enjoy having both a persecution and superiority complex.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 23/02/10 - 2:55 PMPermalink

Rubbish. I you are a muso and have been doing gigs for a while and you still can't pick out others of your kind then that's what you speak...rubbish. If your crowds are dead that's nobody's fault but yours and most likely they wish you would just go away. I can deal with critics and I know one when I see one. Off you go now and tell everyone else to wake up to themselves. You are obviously superior. Not.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/02/10 - 10:56 AMPermalink

Dude, I was thinking exactly the same thing.

The "style" of animation isn't my thing, but it's by no means bad. It's just a personal taste issue. Once again a lot of Krome hate on here.

Actually, thinking of it, is there any Australian studio that "we" do like?