Update: November 18th more answers.
Update: First gameplay details.

Hello everyone and thank you for being patient during these past two weeks since Paul Gale Network revealed Title Fight, PlayStation 3’s own competitor to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series. There have been thousands of questions that have come my way during this short amount of time with the most popular being to some extent, “can you show us some pictures/video”? Unfortunate as it may be, it’s not the time to reveal either of those requests and it certainly isn’t my desire to break the rules. That being said, there’ll be a percentage of you that understand and respect that I can only provide so much and a percentage that will be severely disappointed. I promise this to you, Title Fight is alive, is in development, and if you like Smash Bros., you’re probably going to like it. Now onto the questions I can answer.

Q1] How many characters will be playable?
A1] This was previously mentioned, but the development team is looking at approximately 20 with the number looking more likely now than two weeks ago, to be slightly higher. It could be less though, initially, with room for an expanded roster via DLC, but these types of things are still being considered. The developer primarily wants to have as well varied a cast as possible, made of stars from lots of PlayStation exclusive titles.

Q2] How violent is the game?
A2] I’m not the ESRB, but the game definitely has “T” written all over it up this point.

Q3] Do the characters talk?
A3] The most notable voice heard in the current build is by far Parappa the Rappa. Whereas most characters have grunts at this point (that sound like their selves), Parappa is on the mic a lot. From busting out moves to his super to respawning. But yes, there is voice acting in the game.

Q4] Any plans for a PlayStation Vita version?
A4] There could be, but this is not information that I know one way or another.

Q5] Is Title Fight really the name of “Sony Smash Bros.”?
A5] Yes, Title Fight is currently the tentative title being used for this game, as it is in the title’s on screen menus, etc. There have been multiple other potential title candidates aside from Title Fight (with my own recommendation being PlayStation Title Fight), as well as an equal amount of logos. The logo that’s in game now is different than the recently shared conceptual artwork.

Q6] Who is the developer?
A6] I have to be respectful and continue to keep that TBA.

Q7] What else will we see in Sandover Village?
A7] The Sandover Village stage itself is a fairly small island with multiple other islands in the background. As I mentioned before, there is a giant fish that swims around the bottom of the screen and you if fall into the water, it’ll eat you. The way you get back onto the island itself is by the waterwheel off to the side. It spins around and if you get to it fast enough, you can hop up it and resume the fight on the ground. If you stick around in the water for too long, the fish will KO you with ease. Also remember that this stage like others, has an arena-specific item: golf flag. When you pick it up, the camera will zoom in on the Hot Shots Golf characters in the background and they’ll begin to swing flaming golf balls at your foes.

Q8] What else will we see in the LittleBigPlanet stage?
A8] LittleBigPlanet’s stage has the best music of any arena yet at this point. That could also be a matter of opinion, but when it’s common for levels to eventually restart their musical score (sometimes more on the too noticeable and distracting side), the LittleBigPlanet stage seems to continue sounding pleasant all 3 minutes of the fight. I mentioned before that if you pick up a Buzz! remote, Buzz! himself will come on stage and ask you different trivia questions. Two examples I can give you that show the difference between “easy” and “hard” questions that the dev team is having fun with: 1) What game series is Kratos from? 2) What was LittleBigPlanet’s name while in development? Once again, jump on the platform with the correct answer and you’re safe. Answer incorrectly, and a pie coming from the screen (your perspective) will hit your character and KO him or her.

Q9] Which James Bond actor is being considered for the game and why the character at all?
A9] Part one of the question, Daniel Craig. Before going into part two, my recommendation is to have multiple skins that represent the other James Bond actors including Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, George Lazenby, and Sean Connery. As for why, as you may know, Sony is helping MGM make the next James Bond film which is expected to see release in 2012. Similar to God of War 4 possibly debuting in 2012 as well, wouldn’t you want to time a game of this magnitude just right, to mesh well with your other properties? You can hopefully start to see the brilliance in how things come together.

Q10] Can you confirm or deny Sackboy, Spyro, Crash, Solid Snake or any other PS related characters as being playable?
A10] No for two reasons. The developer doesn’t know the final roster themselves just yet. I don’t want to spoil any of the currently considered possibilities, yet I will say that it’s pretty obvious to imagine certain other, first party heroes making the cut.

Q11] How long has Title Fight been in development?
A11] I’ll say this, it most certainly began development before E3 2011 and to be a little more precise, 2010.

Q12] How about more info on certain characters that were only briefly talked about?
A12] Ok, let’s talk about Sweet Tooth. I didn’t specify before, but you play Sweeth Tooth in his human form, with clown face, and hair flaming about. He happens to be a slow moving character that hits hard, which makes up for his lack of speed. The game is being well balanced to have slow, medium, and fast paced characters. I’d compare him to Ganondorf from Super Smash Bros. Brawl if I had to in terms of speed. In terms of him having nasty moves, I don’t mean provocative, but rather “brutal”. And his transforming sequence into the mecha ice cream truck is cool, heightened only when the fireworks fly.

Q13] Only Nintendo has nailed the Smash Bros. formula, so will this be any good?
A13] This game is so long overdo for PlayStation fans that trust me: a lot of time, effort, and studying has gone into the development. The game will not be rushed, which is why it wasn’t shown at E3 this past June, nor has it been officially revealed to the major media outlets. This is an important game for the PlayStation 3 to have as it will help fill in that gap of “exclusive fighting game” in the system’s library. The fighting genre is one of my specialties and developers know this. This game is necessary for the PS3 and will for its demographic, hopefully deliver big time.

Q14] Are the three leveled energy bars all different in their effects?
A14] The way things are being positioned right now are as follows: the first bar pulls off a character-specific special attack (think Shinku Hadouken level one in Street Fighter Alpha 2), the second bar delivers a more powerful, flashier version of the first bar attack (like a Shinku Hadouken level two which looks similar but hits harder), and it’s really the third bar that’s its own entity…comparable to a Final Smash attack in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (or IF Ryu had a giant fireball that’d trump the other two, looking more like Samus’ arm cannon from Brawl).

Q15] How come Paul Gale Network has been the ONLY site to post ANY information on “Title Fight” aka Sony Smash Bros., without anyone else even having a teardrop, and though an ocean is desirable, you seemingly have a swimming pool full of facts?
A15] I have been sitting on this information for so long, keeping it nice and warm, protecting it like the golden egg it is without mentioning a peep to anyone which is a part of my loyalty that I always have given and ensure my sources, and just recently was happy to finally be able to share it with all of you. My quiet time was lifted and that’s why I’ve been able to entertain you with certain pieces of the puzzle. Yes, it’s probable that other people outside of those involved with the project know of its existence, but perhaps none as much as me (though that is simply an assumption). I can say that I talk to everyone in this biz (ok not literally, but an awful lot) and make a lot of recommendations along the way, including anything from as big as games that should be developed that a company has access to making and my own intellectual properties as a pitch to as simple as how environmental damage should function in a level’s warehouse filled with crates and how a boss character can get more powerful based off of the incorrect techniques you’re using against him (all four of these examples are real ones amongst countless others). Basically, this is my exclusive for now. In time, a full reveal will happen and every news outlet will be talking about it, but none will accurately be able to say, “you heard it here first” except for Paul Gale Network.

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