Atari’s Super Dragon Ball Z Goes Gold

By Geoff Duncan Published June 30, 2006

Atari

Fans of Dragon Ball Z franchise may be in for a treat: Atari has just announced that its Super Dragon Ball Z game for Playstation 2 has gone gold, and is expected to launch in July. The new title was developed by Noritaka Funamizu, former producer of Street Fighter II in the art style of the original Dragon Ball Z manga created by Akira Toriyama, and promises a combat experience designed to appeal to reflex-honed serious gamers.

Each of the thirteen Dragon Ball Z characters (and five unlockable secret characters) has unique, lightning-quick combinations, along with the ability to steal combinations from other players, increasing their power along with the game’s levels. The characters Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta are faithful to the DBZ cano and have their own catalogs of unique special attacksand fighting styles. Super Dragon Ball Z alsofeatures Cyborg Frieza (or Mecha Frieza, we suppose), an all new character.

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“Atari pushes the envelope with this DBZ video game. Super DBZ offersmore challenging and intense fighting gameplay to fans than ever before,”said Emily Anadu, Product Manager, Atari, Inc. “As evidenced by the talentthat made the game, Super DBZ provides a more hard-core 3D fightingexperience but still remains loyal to the DBZ brand

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Gaming

Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s best sidequest puts gender identity front and center

Taash looking concerned in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

When creating my Rook at the beginning of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I was happy to see options for the non-binary gender and preferred pronouns. Features like that are always a welcome addition to RPGs that are all about creating and embodying a character. I didn't expect to see those identity decisions pop up much in the actual story, and they didn't for over 10 hours. Characters would no doubt address me with the correct pronouns, but Rook is clearly a vessel and the personal growth is reserved for your companions.

The presence of inclusivity options to any extent is worth celebrating, so I wasn't holding it against the game if it didn't take the idea any further. Then I hit a mission that left my team's confidence rattled. My main objectives were to speak to three specific characters. I was on my way to talk to Lucanis when I interrupted two other characters having a conversation. Neve, a mage who had been with me from the start, was discussing fashion with Taash, a dragonslayer I had only recently recruited and hadn't even taken out on a mission since meeting. What appeared to be one of many casual conversations between companions that give the world and people a bit of flavor ended up showing just how important it was for BioWare to highlight the subject of identity. It moves a little quickly for the weight of what it is trying to convey, but still feels genuine and inspiring.

Gaming

How to transmog equipment in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age The Veilguard Rook standing between Bellara and Neve.

With the wide assortment of equipment and clothing your character can wear in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it's not easy choosing what you want your Rook to wear while venturing on quests and slaying enemies. Sometimes fashion comes before function, but luckily The Veilguard allows you to prioritize both with the transmog system.

Gaming

How to respec in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

A character draws a bow in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

You can spend a long time making your character in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Between their race, appearance, background, and class, there are a lot of ways to customize the game to your liking. Once you do make your choice and get into a few battles, you will earn your first skill point and be prompted to spend it in the skill tree. That's all basic stuff for an RPG, but even seasoned veterans of the genre might get a little overwhelmed by the size of the skill tree here. It's more like a bush, and you will begin at the center and can carve any path you want toward the edges, where the specializations are. However, you will never have enough points to unlock them all. In fact, you will only be able to reach a single specialization at one time. While you could spend an hour reading and mapping the perfect upgrade path, why not just have fun and try things out and respec your points later? Here's how to reset your skill points in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
How to respec in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Respecing in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is easy, free, and can be done as many times as you like. When you want to refund your points after you've unlocked the skill tree and spent your first points, you have two options. The first is to simply select the individual skills you want to refund (as long as they aren't connecting two nodes) and refund them one by one. Or, you can start from a clean slate by pressing Y or Triangle on the controller to refund every single point you've spent.