We're drawing closer and closer to the January 26 release date of Tatsunoko VS Capcom Ultimate All-Stars, and you're going to see an increase in media coverage of the game over the next few weeks. We had to wait for all the gamer press to finish Assassin's Creed II and max out on COD MW2 before hitting them with preview builds of the game, and now that plan is paying off. On Saturday, TvC fans Gamespot ran a video preview of the game on their awesome On the Spot show -- TvC pops in at 6:44 in -- which you can watch right here (for some reason, Gamespot videos don't want to embed into Unity). Watching this reminds me why, when we demo our games, we always have one person talking about the game while a different person plays the game ;)

This latest installment of Tatsunoko VS Capcom Ultimate All-Stars character profiles pits the quintessential animated Japanese supergenius against the hands-down winner of the "Most Obscure Capcom Character To Appear in a New Capcom Game" award. Read on to learn more about wacky henshin hero Yatterman No. 1, and your new favorite gun-totin' girlfriend, Saki.

Yatterman No. 1

Bio: Gan-Chan is a teenage slacker genius who prefers playing with the toys and robots in his father's toy shop to actually building them. However, after his father dies, Gan finally gets off his tuckus to complete his dad's final masterpiece. Said masterpiece? Yatter-Wan, a gigantic sentient wheeled robot dog designed as an all-terrain rescue machine, complete with sirens, jets, a firehose and mini helper robots that shoot out if its mouth. Really. Gan and his girlfriend, Ai, then embark upon an excitingly wacky series of henshin adventures as costumed heroes Yatterman No. 1 and Yatterman No. 2, battling the skankily evil Doronjo and her two knucklehead henchmen, Boyacky and Tonzra.

In the anime, Doronjo and crew are usually dreaming up some sort of nefarious scheme that requires the efforts of Yatterman and his girl to foil, complete with explosions, battling robots and good old fashioned hand-to-hand combat. True to his toy roots, Yatterman No. 1 prefers to use a kendama in battle, which is a traditional Japanese toy that falls somewhere between cup-and-ball and yo-yo. Yatterman uses the kendama in much the same way Indiana Jones uses his whip, such as tying up baddies and grappling over obstacles.

Gan and Ai both use the same henshin cry of "Yatter" to transform into their superheroic state. Of interest to Street Fighters (especially Chun-Li players) is that the Yatterman name is literally "Yatta!" man. "Yatta" is a Japanese expression of excitement, like "hooray!," that more or less means "I did it!" It's a phrase we were yelling a lot around the Capcom offices as Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5 were shipping this year.


Where you know him from: The original Yatterman show ran for 108 episodes from '77 to '79, and a newer, slightly modernized show has been back on the air in Japan since January of 2008. Famed weirdo director Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer) directed a live-action movie that became a box office hit when released in March of 2009.

Both the original 70s anime and the 2008 series are brightly colored, goofy shows, more funny than serious, but still technically part of the henshin oevre (ooo, big word). Gan usually needs to be persudaded by Ai to take part in stomping on the baddies, but once he's motivated, he is more than happy to ride Yatter-Wan into battle. Most hilariously, the Doronbo gang usually manage to blow themselves up in just about every episode.

The humor can be slightly risque as well, as we'll dive into when we look at Doronjo. In both series, there's an overarching plot thread regarding a Skull Stone that, when assembled, will reveal the location of the world's biggest stash of gold, but that's little more than the MacGuffin that goads Yatterman and Doronjo into knee-slapping conflict.

Signature moves:

Yatter Shock: Yatterman kicks, then flicks his kendama. If the kendama hits, it will zap his opponent, laying them flat out and leaving them vulnerable for a follow-up attack.

Yatter-Wan Fire: Here comes the heat! Yatterman leaps off screen and reappears moments later riding on the side of Yatter-Wan, which then proceeds to breathe fire, which can be controlled by the player.


First appearance: Yatterman (1977)

Last seen in: The new Yatterman series began in Japan in 2008. Also in the Takashi Miike-directed live action movie that came out in March 2009.

Watch Yatterman on DVD, it's good for you!



Saki


Bio: Chances are good that you know as much or more about Polymar than you do about Saki. She was one of the lovely ladies of Capcom's Quiz Nanairo Dreams, a CPS-2 powered arcade game that never saw the light of day in the United States (was also released on Saturn and PS1 in Japan). Quiz Nanairo Dreams is a cross between a dating game and a quiz show, where players had to answer questions correctly in order to get further with the seven chicks. Eventually, the player collects crystals from each of the girls to use aginst the Devil King. Why does she have a giant laser gun in TvC? I honestly have no idea.


Where you know her from: You don't know Saki from anywhere, actually. She pops up as a helper character in the first Marvel VS Capcom game and in the even-more-obscure SNK VS Capcom: Card Fighters Clash for the Neo Geo Pocket Color (please tell me you don't actually own a Neo Geo Pocket Color). Saki is technically a "Wii exclusive" character, as she was not part of the roster in the Japanese arcade game.


Signature moves:

Reload: Obviously, her big damn gun is going to be the heart of Saki's moves and she doesn't disappoint. Players can actually pick the ammo that they want loaded up by using the Reload move. Pressing the Light attack button will give you Buckshot for short-range shotgun blasts. Medium is the Plasma Sphere, which will stick enemies and allow you to hit 'em cheap and hard. Finally, pressing the Hard attack button selects the Power Ammo which will rock your opponent into the sky.

Positron Storm: Saki slaps on her goggles (they do nothing!) and fires a vertiable stream of fire up at an angle. Great for raking across gigantic enemies like Gold Lightan or for making people regret launching an aerial attack.


First appearance: Quiz Nanairo Dreams (1996)

Last seen in: Marvel VS Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998)

Tatsunoko VS Capcom Ultimate All-Stars producer Ryota Niitsuma-san came to the US for the first time during Comic-con and we immediately put him to work! First, he spoke with G4 in the clip above, diving in to some of the challenges that we faced in clearing all the licenses involved with the game. Then he met with Siliconera, where he teased hints about new characters and online play being added to All-Stars, topics that are near and dear to all y'all TvC fans. Read the Siliconera interview here for confirmation that Hakushon the Genie will not be in All-Stars, amongst other choice tidbits.

Grant and intrepid still-not-a-real-boy intern Gerald are currently knee-deep in Naruto fans at the LA Convention Center, as Anime Expo 2009 is officially on and crazytime. As you can see, the boys are making friends at the Capcom booth, showing off Tatsunoko VA Capcom Ultimate All-Stars and snapping photos of Capcom-flavored cosplayers. Are you going to the con this weekend? Will you be wearingCapcom regalia? If so, stop by so we can snap an image of your soul and paste it on Capcom Unity for all to see, just like these here folks. Watch this space, as I'll update it with more pictures from the show as they come in.

Grant is already prepping for Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center (which is not actually in Anaheim, as we accidentally lied to you yesterday), getting set to spend his 4th of July weekend with dudes in orange ninja suits, cardboard samurai armor and way, way too much spandex. As proof that Grant's actually doing some work for a change, he's magically beamed over shots of crates arriving at our show space (437/439). In a few hours, these meager boxes will be transformed into Capcom's ungodly "portable" game kiosks, where we'll be showing off Tatsunoko VS Capcom Ultimate All-Stars to the crowd at Anime Expo all weekend long. If you're gettin' your hentai on this weekend, stop by and challenge us to a few rounds of TvC -- if you dare!

UPDATE: Grant tells us that 44,000 anime fans are expected to pour through the doors this weekend. To put this in perspective, that's about as many people as attended E3 this year. Grant's also continuing to send photos of the contruction process, which we'll add on as they come in.