6th Generation Era is the SWEET SPOT of Third-Party Titles

If you're a lover of many third-party titles, you might want to think about getting a GameCube, PS2 or the original Xbox. But if you are a part of the community that prefers to play these games on modern platforms and want to buy them digitally, there might be some good news for you because maybe you don't have to buy one of these systems at all. But before we get to that, let's address the history and state how is it that many third-party games are kind of why the generation had to be the best and how it has come to this point.

Somehow, the 6th generation of gaming consisting of the PS2, GameCube, the original Xbox and even the Dreamcast not only became the best generation that many people, including myself, believed, but became the sweet spot of third-party games as well, even though one company has shifted from being a console manufacturer into being a third-party developer. Now, let's take a second here and rewind just a little bit, so bear with me.

First and foremost, if you go back to the part when SEGA has shifted to being a third-party developer following the commercial failure of the Dreamcast to release games on non-SEGA platforms like Bandai Namco, Capcom, Square Enix and a bunch of others before them, it came with a whole brand new company that stepped up into the gaming ecosystem, Microsoft, who would then create the first Xbox console that would be aptly named the Xbox. I said to myself, "It sucks that the Dreamcast had to fail miserably because of the eye of the storm being the PS2's launch SEGA was in" and it wasn't a convincing one.

Following Microsoft's step up into the gaming industry upon SEGA's shift to a third-party software business, SEGA has released a compilation of SEGA GT 2002 and Jet Set Radio Future for the original Xbox and Super Monkey Ball for the GameCube as launch titles for both systems. Then they released a brand new Sonic title, Sonic Heroes, which would be their first original Sonic title since the business shift to being a third-party developer. However, while our speedy blue lad may have gone third-party so that his games would release on non-SEGA platforms, he was not the only mascot that did it.

The PS1 era became deemed as charming when they established two legendary titans, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. These two legendary characters were established in the PS1 era by the original developers Universal brought on after the release of Way of the Warrior and Disruptor for their three-game contract, Naughty Dog and Insomniac. They are the two developers Universal hired for their three-game contract. Insomniac's three-game contract with Universal was up and done when Spyro 3 came out. It turned out well for Insomniac, even though Universal had to turn off the air conditioner to the building during crunch time.

But after Crash 3 came out, Naughty Dog couldn't leave the Crash IP once their three-game contract was done because PlayStation wanted another Crash game from them, but Naughty Dog refused to work with Universal because of their bullcrap--turning off the air conditioner to the building and forcing them to work in a Californian summer weather, so Sony negotiated between the companies to pave the way for Crash Team Racing, which would be Naughty Dog's final Crash title before moving on to new creativity on the PS2.

As we move on to the next generation of gaming, Naughty Dog and Insomniac parted ways with both IPs to partake on new adventures on the PS2 with their brand new IPs, Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. It left Universal to brand the IPs however they want, resulting Crash and Spyro to go third-party from passing it on to different studios to continue the franchises on multiple platforms since the developers don't own the rights to both franchises. When each company got a hold of Crash and Spyro, they tried something new and introduced innovations in their games. However, while they garnered a cult following, none of the games that came out after the original trilogies came close to the renowned the originals did both in terms of reviews and sales.

And here's the worst part. During development of Twinsanity, a lot of gameplay hours and content were cut from the game. Enter the Dragonfly kept on getting rewrites and ideas scrapped after nothing worked bi-weekly and was given an awfully short development time to release it early before the Christmas season with bugs galore, leading to intense disagreements within the studios about how to get the game out, escalating to literal fist fights, like sitting in the offices when making a game for Mortal Kombat and a game for Naruto. This is due to Universal's stupidity. They allowed gameplay hours and content to be cut from Twinsanity and they had to release Enter the Dragonfly prematurely because of their refusal to miss the Christmas season that led to literal fist fights within the company.

If we fast forward to 2020, Toys for Bob has taken the mantle of releasing a brand new Crash game, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. It's a modern Crash Bandicoot title that is based off of the original trilogy that was the most popular, which is how it saved the franchise. Fast forward into now, we got some info about a new Crash Bandicoot title and a new Crash Team Racing title across the internet along with info about a new Spyro title, which may not be a modern Spyro that is based off of the original trilogy since we can expect RPG elements, deeper storyline, deeper combat, open world elements and even some moments we've experienced in Sonic SatAM. We're getting closer to the verbal announcement of three anticipated games.

Crash and Spyro became the two kings of the PlayStation in their time in the original trilogies. When we move on to the 6th generation of gaming that is the sweet spot, the IPs went third-party to have games release not just on the PS2, but also other platforms. None of them may be critically successful as the original titles, but we don't care. All we care about is revisiting them.

Rolling back to when SEGA was a hardware manufacturer, throughout the 1990s, CRI gradually transitioned its focus to evolve into a provider of two audio middleware tools, ADX and Sofdec. They went on to develop games for the SEGA Saturn and Dreamcast before it was incorporated as CRI Middleware in 2001 when SEGA restructured themselves into a third-party developer to provide their two middleware tools, and not just for SEGA games, but non-SEGA games by other developers as well, released on non-SEGA consoles. They are so powerful that it can produce lossy audio and video streaming.

See, CRIWARE is not nostalgic, but ADX and Sofdec are. The logos were phased out in 2008, but still usable under the CRIWARE brand. While CRI Middleware is a Japanese software developer that can integrate codecs into games, they also integrate codecs into games produced by American companies, including the one American company, THQ. Which brings me to my next point here; how the WWE games under the THQ umbrella became more revolutionary than the ones under the 2K umbrella. I haven't gone into detail about this in previous posts, so I decided to go into detail here now.

THQ was known for producing wrestling games, right? Wrestling games were revolutionary under the THQ umbrella that the company began production on them when the 5th generation consoles came out. And when we get to the 6th generation era of gaming, things were taken to the next level, with the inception of the SmackDown vs, RAW franchise. And here's something really interesting regarding the fact of the 6th generation era being the sweet spot of third-party games.

THQ didn't just produce regular wrestling games. They also produced spinoffs, ranging from the driving game to the GameCube-exclusive Day of Reckoning series that was so revolutionary. Factors show that the fan favorites are the ones under the THQ umbrella due to the revolutionariness introduced in them.

But when we get to 2014 when the WWE game franchise was passed on to 2K, the fan bases are over the place. The only conception is that the ones under the THQ umbrella were more revolutionary and better than the ones under the 2K umbrella and that's something I can strongly agree. It's also due to the 2K era's lack of cinematic logos the THQ era has. See, games based on TV wrestling are popular in the US, while CRI Middleware developed the middleware tools in some of them. They are basically integrated on the PS2 and GameCube versions of them since both systems did well in the Japanese market unlike the original Xbox.

This applies to the fact that Japanese companies were able to develop PS2 and GameCube games well. They made games based on anime as well, including the one company that is known for making games based on anime, Bandai Namco. It's the company that made the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai trilogy for the PS2 and GameCube. But they were Bandai at the time. Naruto's case in gaming is obvious. His games were released under the Bandai Namco name and developed by CyberConnect2 on the PS2, but not on the GameCube as his games were released under the Tomy name and developed by 8ing on that system and not just on the GameCube, but on the Wii as well.

CyberConnect2 is a Japanese game developer who developed their games on the PS2 based on anime with Bandai Namco. They developed the Ultimate Ninja franchise and the .hack franchise that came in multiple volumes. The original .hack had four volumes and .hack//G.U. had three volumes and that is another factor that cites the 6th generation of gaming being a sweet spot for third-party games. CyberConnect2 at the time became prevalent in today's market to develop games on not just on PlayStation consoles, but also on other platforms as well on this generation.

This comes a connection to the plethora of TV show and movie licensed video games. But I look specifically at licensed games that are released on the PS2, GameCube and the original Xbox. We don't consider franchises as a whole like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or James Bond as nostalgic. But there are titles in the franchises that are nostalgic like, of course, Star Wars: The Force Unleased, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Lord of the Rings: The Third Age and 007: Nightfire. But these franchises as a whole are not nostalgic due to their prevalence in today's market. No, the nostalgic franchises are Monster House, Madagascar, Tak and the Power of Juju, Scarface and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These are the nostalgic ones that never been remade for modern consoles.

And one of the licensed games being one of the well-liked games is the Simpsons Hit & Run. This is a licensed game that was well-liked by both the critics and fans. A child friendly GTA with a sense of no killing, guns or explosions, exploring Springfield, partaking on missions and hilarious and witty dialogue. Radical made this game after the failure with Road Rage because of the lawsuit SEGA of America filed against the companies over it being a Crazy Taxi clone for patent infringement. Radical made a Crazy Taxi-esque game that was met with a mixed reception, but not as bad as the Simpsons Skateboarding and the Simpsons Wrestling that were absolute dumpster fire titles.

If you look at Metacritic, the Simpsons Skateboarding has scored a 38 out of 100 and Wrestling scored a 32 out of 100. These two games were worthy of being met with negative reception that everybody hated both of them because of their lack of polish and quality. They both averaged on a meager 34 out of 100 and they are both sports games based on the Simpsons.

Speaking of sports games, this leads me to the next part on how the 6th generation era is the sweet spot of third-party titles; sports games with flashy elements. I know I'm not a fan of sports games, but I prefer the ones that have flashy elements. I know that some people would think that EA was the first, but there was one company that made their sports games with flashy elements first before EA followed suit. That is Midway Games.

Midway had a licensing contract with the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, the big four sports leagues, to develop sports games. The first one that came out on the N64 and PS1 was NFL Blitz. And as we head into the next generation of gaming, more sports games kicked in and Blitz continues. MLB has Slugfest, NHL has Hitz and NBA has Ballers. It literally fits the 6th generation era into a T.

What has also fits the generation into a T is when EA followed suit to develop sports games with flashy elements. They were released under the EA Sports BIG label in 2000 when the PS2 came out. The label has street sports games based on leagues. Then it was phased out in 2008 and the company moves on to make mainstream sports games every year. They are done by big companies and lacked innovations. Many people liked to play sports games that are flashy, grotesque and fun, the ones released in the generation. We have seen some grotesque and wacky gameplay in them and they aged well today. And that's great for the learning curve.

Anyway, if we go back to the Midway part, they were the publishers of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Upon home console releases of the very first game of the franchise, it became controversial due to graphic violence and gore. It sparked the senate hearings held by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl, and the creation of the ESRB.

And as we get to the next generation of gaming, Mortal Kombat was taken to the next level in 3D space with three games, Deadly Alliance, Deception and Armageddon. The trilogy of games involved switching between styles in game, doing Conquests, combo trials and earning color-coded coins to unlock content in the Krypt. I know we loved switching styles. It became a part of innovation that it is a praise-worthy feature, especially when it comes to combos. They became fan favorites of the series due to switching styles introduced in them.

Well, I covered everything regarding to how the 6th generation era is the sweet spot for third-party titles. Now we can go back to the present. The 6th generation became a sweet spot of third-party games that Nintendo and PlayStation fans want to revisit them in that generation. Their wish was fulfilled. Nintendo Switch Online offers a catalog of GameCube games only on the Switch 2 and PlayStation Plus offers PS2 games on the PS4 and PS5 and will continue on the PS6 and the new handheld console. That includes third-party games that are a citation of the 6th generation era being the sweet spot.

Xbox players get a pass because the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and a future Xbox console titled Project Helix can play original Xbox games through backwards compatibility, so all they have to do is put in an original Xbox disc and that's it, it recognizes it. The Xbox backwards compatibility system is making a comeback to make PC games play most games across every Xbox generation and hopefully make a lot more of them play on modern Xbox consoles despite licensing issues and technical headaches.

As we browse through the GameCube and PS2 catalogs, they currently meet couple of criteria. First off, games that use ADX and Sofdec, so the GameCube catalog has Soul Calibur II and the PS2 catalog has Soul Calibur III. This means it's possible that both Nintendo and Sony were able to throw out games that use the two middlewares, so there will be more to come.

Now let's move on to another criteria; licensed video games based on other media; TV shows and movies, the ones that never been ported to modern consoles to deem them as nostalgic. The PS2 catalog has the recently released WALL-E. This is the very first licensed video game to ever come to the PS2 catalog, indicating that while this is a Disney game, there is a possibility for Sony to throw in more licensed nostalgic video games, the ones that never been remade for modern consoles. But to do that, Sony must create a license and divert it to Implicit Conversions to resolve licensing issues. The GameCube catalog, however, has yet to get a licensed game based on a movie or a TV show due to licensing issues. But will have one at some point.

Both catalogs don't have sports games with flashy elements, Crash and Spyro games, wrestling games, games based on anime yet or the 3D-era trilogy of the Mortal Kombat franchise that involves switching between three styles in game, but we can hope that they make it to the respective catalogs in the future. There are a lot more PS2 and GameCube games to come and that will include the ones that can possibly meet the following criteria we have set on this post. Again, Xbox players are exempt since modern consoles have full backwards compatibility and the program is making a comeback to extend it to PC.

Why I'm telling you about this is because the 6th generation era of gaming has a lot of third-party games in my childhood. Heck, I can just play them all day on my PS5 and on my Switch 2 if I get one, but the ones with action in them since action games become the most popular game genre. And not just action games, but also fighting games as well since both Nintendo and Sony can throw in retro fighting games into their classic catalog well and existing companies compiled retro fighters in one collection to have modern features. I have the link to the post that talks about the companies being able to port fighting games into modern consoles along with their nuances.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2025/10/blog-post-%20companies-plan-of-porting-classic-fighting-games-to-modern-platforms.html

2XKO Season 2 at Evo Japan? About That...

Admittedly, I was supposed to post a backstory post, but I just want to provide you an update on something related to 2XKO. Based on things I stated on the post regarding 2XKO in 2026 and what people have been expecting. And it's something to do with Evo Japan. This post may sting a little, but this is something to get off my chest.

Now, I originally said that we're gonna see the Season 2 trailer dropped before or after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Japan 2026, but apparently, the trailer didn't drop. Bandai Namco is dropping the Kunimitsu trailer after Tekken 8 Top 8, Mr. Karate is revealed for Fatal Fury, Zohar is revealed as the fourth DLC character for Under Night In-Birth II: Sys:Celes, Kula Diamond from KOF and Mai Shiranui from Fatal Fury are announced to be returning DLC for Dead or Alive 6: Last Round and finally, Sony is announcing something for Marvel Tokon.

Evo is known for throwing out announcements for fighting games, courtesy of a number of developers. 2XKO is one of the games in three Evos this year. However, since we didn't get a Season 2 trailer at Evo Japan like I predicted, I don't think that Riot is gonna announce something at any other Evo events before or after Top 8. I did a post talking about the roadmap of everything coming to 2XKO in 2026. I'll provide a link to it at the end of the post.

If you're wondering why Riot can't announce something for 2XKO in a major fighting game event after or before Top 8 like other developers, well, since 2XKO is a free-to-play fighting game, I think the team has the flexibility to make announcements anytime. Here's the thing; they announced Caitlyn at the Game Awards last year. In the previous Weekly Warmup, Akali and Senna were announced. Because of it, since the Season 2 trailer didn't drop at Evo Japan, it will drop one day before launch.

We know that the Senna trailer will drop the coming Tuesday and she will launch in Season 2 along with a new Fuse and a Duo Finder on May 12 way before Evo. But here's the thing. Look at the MultiVersus Season 2 trailer. Beetlejuice was revealed at the end of the trailer to fall with Samurai Jack within Season 2. Now, imagine the 2XKO Season 2 trailer revealing the fourth character of the year at the end of the trailer to fall with Senna within Season 2.

While my expections have changed, my prediction of revealing the fourth character at the end of the Season 2 trailer and releasing Character 4's during Evo 2026's Friday Showcase is still in play, along with revealing the rest of the characters in a future Weekly Warmup post. I still think, even though the Season 2 trailer didn't drop at Evo Japan, that Character 4 is gonna be revealed at the end of the Season 2 trailer. If not, we will have to wait for a future Weekly Warmup post to announce the last three characters of the year. If you're interested in reading the article about 2XKO in 2026 and the things I went over, you can click the link to the post below.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/04/huge-news-for-2xko-in-2026.html

Publishers of Stray Made Something CRAZY

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a magnum opus of a turn-based JRPG that still holds a lot of players today. But what if I told you that the publishers of Stray has brought on a small team that has developed a charming turn-based JRPG that is similar to the critically acclaimed turn-based JRPG, but has a musical twist? Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a brand new post regarding a game that I came across that I heard it became so dang gorgeous. And no, I'm not talking about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Expedition 33 has quite a dedicated fan base. it sold 8 million copies today and won Game of the Year at the Game Awards last year. Many people see Expedition 33 as an indie or AA game that draws inspiration from the turn-based era of Final Fantasy games. However, if you're a fan of Expedition 33 or any other turn-based RPG, there is good news for you.

Annapurna Interactive, the publisher of Stray, has brought on Iridium Studios and made something that is gorgeous. Iridium got to work on their project. And what they made is an absolutely groundbreaking masterpiece of a turn-based JRPG. Picture this; a turn-based JRPG that is a combination of Expedition 33, Grandia Xtreme and Ar Tonelico. Seems like a weird and uncanny creation of combining together three turn-based JRPGs into one, don't you think?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is People of Note. People of Note is a turn-based JRPG where musical performances meet thrilling combat. The game's female protagonist is Cadence, a pop singer who realizes that playing solo is not enough to make the judges impressed since she was shut out by the Noteworthy Song Contest, so Cadence travels across the world of Note in search of her new friends to form a band. However, corruption is brewing in the distance. The Harmonic Convergence is set to wreak, or play havoc, with the world's musical energies and the forces of musical evil are working behind the scenes to bring disruption to Note's natural harmonies. That's where Cadence and her musical allies come in to stop the vile forces of music evil and ensure music itself has a brighter future.

People of Note's turn-based combat has a glorious twist that never before seen in any other turn-based RPGs: each battle is an interactive musical performance with evolving combat conditions and genre-bending mashup attacks, akin to the mashup attacks we'd experience in Grandia Xtreme. Each character has their own arsenal of abilities that involve the timing of button presses. Time it right and you'll deal appropriate damage to enemies. Each enemy has a weakness, so exploit it to deal even more damage. There is a cresendo gauge that fills up as enemies grow stronger and battles get more intense. That's where music increases its tempo and things heat up.

The game had a demo that had to be taken out upon its full release in a way to focus on post-launch patches. And maybe they can bring the demo back one day. It was listed as a musical turn-based JRPG. Well, yes, but the combat is like a mix of Grandia Xtreme and Ar Tonelico. The big selling point of these two PS2 JRPGs is the concept of turn-based combat with a musical twist and team attacks. The PS2 became the sweet spot for turn-based JRPGs and it driven developers to make a JRPG that is a combination of these games.

If this game sells well like Expedition 33 did, it'll have surprises in store and it'll become worthy of having future updates. Developers can follow Sandfall's footsteps and make players proud. People of Note is now available on PC and consoles, so go check it out.

I've Been Granted to Submit Logo Requests

So, I have expressed my interest in submitting logo requests to the YouTube channel that is known for covering logos of all media. Then I was given the ability to submit requests and there are two videos that have fulfiled my requests. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a post that I felt obligated doing. Did you like the last post about 2XKO in 2026? What was so special about that one is because of a long-awaited roadmap. What's the next thing I want to post? Well, there's a backstory in the works that can make gamers understand the true meaning of the game industry. I am even working on a post that talks about a turn-based JRPG and its nuances, which is probably what I'll post next.

But what I want to mention now, though, is a bit of a shoutout about a YouTube channel called Broken Saw. This is a logo-based channel and I know you loved them. They are known for covering logos from TV shows, video games, movies, bumpers and movie and game trailers. The logos I'm into are the ones from video games. There are a lot of videos that cover video games, including the one form I like the most; logos that are deep. And by deep, I mean logos that don't take place in game or refer to what game and can also refer to silent logos.

Why I'm telling you about this is because I was given and granted permission to drop submissions in a document that contains links/requests for logos after expressing my interest in submitting requests for logos from video games. The section has requests, with new ones being at the bottom. If you scroll through them, you'll see my requests that has the signature of my screen name "KnockDownJoe." If you see my signature, they are my logo requests. However, there is a limit of 10 submissions, so I have to wait a little while because they need to focus on what is front of them. It's called patience, you know.

I'll be using MobyGames for citation of older games. It is a video game database that collects data from older and current titles. This is the data I can find when it comes to older titles. However, I am also using IGDB for modern games that are released on modern generations and games that aren't in MobyGames. The separate document currently has a lot of requests that I have planned to submit, so here's the link to the document below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Oz1SBk0_8juuRYsofhf0HF0xpg52rU1jBfbDoU16ogE/edit?tab=t.0

Broken Saw has fulfilled my requests of two videos that I'm going to show you here.

From Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi:

From WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2008 (PS3 version):

But this is just the beginning. The future document updates over time as I add more of them or put them in the main document. I have a lot of them, but I look specifically at games with the deep logo flows, cinematic and plain logo flows that take place before or after the copyright and trademark notice screens with logos on them. There are a lot of requests I am planning to submit, so I decided to list the following games with the best logo flows I have planned to submit to Broken Saw.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe:

I have to make this the first thing to talk about because on the post about video game violence, I talked about this game and its nuances that led to getting a T rating. This game has the best logo flow of Midway, WB Interactive Elements, DC Comics, Unreal Technology. Beast, Turtle, DivX and GameSpy. However, it would be the final Mortal Kombat game of the franchise under the Midway umbrella before their liquidation allowed the franchise to be published under the Warner Bros. umbrella in development partnership with NetherRealm Studios with the inception of their first game aptly called Mortal Kombat.

Super Dragon Ball Z:

For those of you who don't know what Super Dragon Ball Z is, it's a cel-shaded fighting game that features a handful of Dragon Ball Z characters and unique movesets for each character. Now, I remember playing this game back in the day when the games were in the golden age of Atari. Plus, this is among one of the Dragon Ball games to have the best logo flow of Atari, Funimation, Okra Tron 5000, Bandai Namco, Craft & Meister, Sofdec and ADX. If this game comes to PlayStation Plus, it'll make the FGC who played this game back in the day happy.

Ultra Street Fighter IV:

I'll be the first to say that I played any of the Street Fighter IV games, but never played the Ultra release. But it does have the best logo flow, but different by version. How it goes is the order of Capcom, Dolby Digital, Criware and Autodesk Gameware Scaleform. The console version has the Other Ocean logo while the PC version has the NVIDIA logo. Both versions have the best logo flows overall.

007: Tomorrow Never Dies:

This is a game that I remember playing back in the day when I was a kid. A Nintendo 64 version was planned, but it was scrapped due to memory limits, which is why the logos in the N64 version of third-party games lacked animation, rendering it exclusive to the PS1. It's because the game discs have more space than the N64 game cartridges. There's the logo flow of Killer Game, Black Ops Enterainment, MGM Interactive and Tommy Tallarico Studios. This has the best logo flow. We never had a James Bond game on PlayStation Plus yet, but I think we can see it come to light one day in preparation of the upcoming new game to welcome James Bond back into the gaming realm after his 14-year hiatus since Legends came out.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3:

Currently, logos for Budokai 1 and 2 are on there, but not Budokai 3 yet because I'm submitting this to fill in the database with the best logo of Atari, Funimation Productions, Ltd., Bandai, Dimps, Sofdec and ADX. The difference is the Bandai logo not seen on the previous two entries.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric:

So far, I have requests for games that never released on Nintendo consoles, but this is the only game that was exclusively released on the WiiU to be one of the games I'm submitting. I pretty much enjoyed the game. It was alright, but not the best. However, it has the best logo flow of SEGA, Big Red Button Entertainment, IllFonic, CryEngine, Bink Video, Autodesk Gameware Scaleform and Criware. The game's copyright and trademark notice screen has the last three logos together.

These are the games with the best logo flows I have planned to submit to Broken Saw. But nothing can compare with one of the games that have the best logo flow.

From 50 Cent: Bulletproof:

50 Cent: Bulletproof has the best logo flow that contains not just game logos, but also logos of American record labels. It takes place after the notice screen you won't see. There's a two-second pause between the logo flow and the game's intro. However, if you're planning on posting gameplay videos, be sure to turn the music off to avoid getting a copyright strike because there is copyrighted music on there. I never played Bulletproof because it's an M-rated game and I was too young to play M-rated games on that time when the sixth generation consoles came out.

If you're willing to submit logo requests to Broken Saw, the channel's about section has the steps to follow. Here's the link to Broken Saw's channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@BrokenSaw1

HUGE News for 2XKO in 2026

We got some huge news for 2XKO in 2026 that I did not see coming. Riot Games has just released a roadmap of everything coming to 2XKO in 2026 and there are several things that come with a big holy crap. Let's jump right in.

I'm here with a new post that has some huge and crazy news for us 2XKO fans. Today, we have been given a glimpse of everything coming to 2XKO in 2026.

Riot Games has just posted a roadmap containing everything coming to 2XKO in 2026. I did not save the roadmap and put it on my files. Instead, I used Bandicam to screen capture the whole thing at a bigger size for better quality. I'm not gonna go over everything in the roadmap, but I'm gonna go over the things I screencapped that are big and exciting.

First off, the character roadmap. Here's a look at the first three characters in the character roadmap containing Caitlyn, Akali and Senna, our upcoming character. While it says that Senna is coming in 2026, we know for sure that looking at the Season 1 countdown, she is coming out on May 12 with the launch of Season 2. The first three characters revealed so far are all female and that's not a problem to me. I am excited for Senna and she's pretty darn dope like Akali is.

We know we have the last two unannounced characters on the roadmap. But something's not right. Why is the NEW! label on Character 4? Well, if we scroll right...

An extra sixth character has been added to the schedule.

There are now three unannounced characters on the character roadmap.

The character roadmap now contains a total of SIX new characters coming this year. That's right, six new characters. The first half contains Caitlyn, Akali and Senna, and the second half has three unannounced characters. This is due to learning how we play in Early Access, whereas each season will have two new characters, following MultiVersus' footsteps. Season 0 saw the introduction of Teemo and Warwick, and Caitlyn and Akali fell within Season 1. What this means is that Senna and Character 4 will fall within Season 2, and Characters 5 and 6 will fall within Season 3. This year will expand the roster to 17 characters. Having six new characters this year is perfect. This could actually work for 2027 and beyond.

Speaking of which, this brings me to my point. Back at Evo 2024, they dropped the MultiVersus Season 2 trailer featuring Samurai Jack and Beetlejuice before Mortal Kombat 1 Top 6, so in a spirit of things, I think we're gonna see the 2XKO Season 2 trailer featuring Senna and Character 4 to be announced at the end of the trailer drop before or after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Japan since Evo Japan is approaching and we're getting two new characters on each season. We know that they will announce something in regards to Ingrid for Street Fighter 6, the fifth Season 2 Pass character for Fatal Fury and the Kunimitsu trailer for Tekken 8 since she's coming in likely May, but it's likely that a Season 2 trailer may pop up before or after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Japan. As for the fifth and sixth characters, they are likely to be revealed at a future Weekly Warmup post.

And here's another point. Remember the part where they announced Vi before Evo 2025 started? I think there is conjunction to this method of revealing the fourth character of the year after Senna. We're gonna see Character 4 get announced at the end of the trailer and Character 4's trailer dropped during the Friday Showcase at Evo 2026.

Now, remember what I said that neither Kennen nor Miss Fortune are gonna come out in 2026? I have good news for you. Since we're getting an extra sixth character this year to fall with the fifth character in Season 3, I am coming to a conclusion to believe that Character 6 is either Kennen or Miss Fortune. However, since we already have Spirit Hills, an Ionia-themed stage and Akali, it leaves me to predict that Miss Fortune would be Character 6 to fall with Character 5 in Season 3 and that is because of the Brazen Hydra having wanted posters of Gangplank and Tahm Kench on the right side of the stage. My prediction of Katarina being Character 4 to fall with Senna within Season 2 remains unchanged.

Honorable mentions:

Gangplank
Ashe
Riven
Garen

I'm gonna take the four honorable mentions I went over on the last post where I stated which of the five characters I think could potentially launch in 2026, but the last one standing could potentially be Character 5. Since we already have a Noxus-themed stage and I am speculating that Miss Fortune can be Character 6 because of the Brazen Hydra having wanted posters of Gangplank and Tahm Kench, I'm scratching out Riven and Gangplank. That leaves Garen and Ashe remaining. Currently, we never had a Demacian character in 2XKO yet and Braum is currently the only Freljordian in the roster. These characters will come with a new stage in Season 3, but one of them is Character 5 while the other is scratched out. I am scratching Garen out for next year, so that leaves me to predict that Ashe is potentially Character 5 to come with a never-before-had Freljord-themed stage in Season 3.

That said, I'm going to postulate the character release schedule. Now, before I begin, here's the definition of the word.

The definition of postulate is something I need you to understand because the character release schedule and the characters I'm stating are hypothetical. Let's begin.

Caitlyn came out on January 20 with the launch of Season 1, Ferros Promenade and the console launch. Akali came out on April 7 within Season 1 with Caitlyn. Senna releases in May 12 along with Season 2 and a new stage, which what we know for sure. Katarina releases in July 14 within Season 2 with Senna. Ashe comes out September 1 with the launch of Season 3 and a Freljord-themed stage. And finally, Miss Fortune comes out November 17 within Season 3 with Ashe to round out 2026 and its 17-character roster.

Character roadmap:

Caitlyn + Ferros Promenade - January 20, 2026
Akali - April 7, 2026
Senna + new stage - May 12, 2026
Katarina - July 14, 2026
Ashe + new Freljord-themed stage - September 1, 2026
Miss Fortune - November 17, 2026

And I'm sorry that it had to be all female because Darius, Illaoi and Braum are the sole characters from certain regions in the roster and they are related to the characters I'm predicting, and we never have characters that wield a bow, dual pistols or dual knives in the roster; the following things that are classified as the current roster's missing aesthetics and fighting styles. Like, we know that Katarina and Miss Fortune will be a Rushdown like Ahri, Akali, Vi and Warwick, and Ashe will be a Zoner like Jinx and Caitlyn, but Senna's fighting archetype remains a mystery.

2026 character roster:

Ahri
Akali
Ashe
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina
Miss Fortune
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

Despite the fact that we're getting an odd-numbered character roster of 17 this year because of the extra sixth character coming this year, I'm still going to divide the hypothetical 2026 character roster into the SEGA and Capcom sides across the board and state the key points. The characters I'm predicting are written in bold for clarification. Since 2026 is seeing the odd-numbered character roster of 17 thanks to the extra sixth upcoming character, the Capcom side will be one character behind the number of characters in the SEGA side until the 18th character to launch next year in 2027. Let's get to dividing the roster. We'll start with the SEGA side.

Ahri remains, but Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Vi and Yasuo move and Ashe, Katarina and Senna go with Ahri, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Vi and Yasuo. The SEGA side has Ahri, Ashe, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Katarina, Senna, Vi and Yasuo.

Akali, Teemo and Warwick remain, but Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx move and Miss Fortune goes with Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Teemo, and Warwick. That puts Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Miss Fortune, Teemo and Warwick on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Ashe
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Katarina
Senna
Vi
Yasuo

Capcom side:

Akali
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Miss Fortune
Teemo
Warwick

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Ashe on the SEGA side = Skies of Arcadia
Darius on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Illaoi on the SEGA side = Ooga Booga
Katarina on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Onimusha
Blitzcrank on the Capcom side = Mega Man X
Caitlyn on the Capcom side = Alien vs. Predator (Arcade game)
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers

So we now have nine characters on the SEGA side and eight characters on the Capcom side in 2026 and key points to highlight the following. I'm agreeing with Illaoi being on the SEGA side because of Ooga Booga, and Caitlyn on the Capcom side because of the Alien vs. Predator arcade game by Capcom.

I am aware that Katarina is the most ambitious character because she was cut during the earlier stage of development, but as I have said before, these are hypothetical. They don't confirm who they are or the order of the character releases. Please understand that.

Here's a look at the other things that are coming in 2026. We got 14 things coming in 2026. We know console launch, arcade skins, the launch celebration event, Ferros Promenade and local duos came out and we got the Spirit Blossom event coming tomorrow, so we can scratch them out.

Now, we're down to seven things on the docket for 2XKO in 2026.

We have two new direct-to-store stages coming out this year; the Blood Moon variant of Spirit Hills, which is coming out in the next patch, and a summer-themed stage coming out in June.

We have a summer event coming to have returning summer skins from Alpha Lab 2 and new ones coming in June's patch along with a new summer-themed stage I have already told you about.

What is the Heimerdinger? Heimerdinger? What is the humdinger? Well, here it is.

That's right. A new Fuse is coming next month. I am going to predict what this new Fuse would be. I think the new Fuse is gonna be Fever, originally Double Point.

How it can work is that it can make the assist character the second point character with everything the point character has. But there is no tagging or assists. However, this new Fuse is gonna be exclusive to Duos on both online and offline that if you have a duo partner, this Fuse would be available. In fact, what is really cool is that if both duos choose this Fuse, it'll become 2XKO Fever, hence the Fever Fuse.

And finally, the knockout punch as there is another humdinger coming to 2XKO along with a new Fuse...

A Duo Finder is also officially coming to 2XKO next month. This is something that we have been wanting since Alpha Lab 1 and it's finally coming into fruition along with a new Fuse. Of course, by "we," I mean myself and the players who got an invite to Alpha Lab 1. They said that they're going make duos much easier to find and form, so here it is; the gold standard of finding duos, a Duo Finder. This will make duos much easier to find and form online, encouraging online duos more than online solos. But I don't think that the Casual and Ranked lobbies are gonna have the same treatment as private lobbies, with readying up for solo and waiting for a partner to duo before readying up. I think that the Duo Finder gonna work similarly to the matchmaker, but will find you a duo. Think of it as a duomaker.

Now, I am aware that a player wanting to duo up with someone is considered a scrub like using Pulse combos. Well, in a way, yes, but in a way, no. Duo Play is the gold standard of working together as a team without a trace of selfishness, so why would you think that duos can make them scrubs for the most basic of things? Well, I have news for you. We're not using the Duo Finder just to become Russian scrubs. We're using it for not just for purposes of grinding, but for fun also. Emphasis on "fun" because duos are more fun than solos, especially to duos-only tournaments.

Finally, we can no longer be forced to use rocks. This means we won't be forced to search for an online partner to duo with often, especially when new players are grinding the duo mission in First Steps to get the Champion Token and when they are missions pertaining to playing matches as a duo.

Since the roadmap has almost everything planned for 2026, there are more details to be announced and they're ironing out their upcoming patches for the rest of 2026. We can expect more things to come in the second half of 2026, beginning in July. Since there are more to come, there is not one, but two things that I want along with a new Fuse and a Duo Finder coming next month.

Custom Lobbies:

Currently, there are private lobbies and they are only for invited players and have a code for players to put in. But we can change that to custom lobbies. That way, they can be both public and private. A custom lobby being public is actually an open lobby, meaning that anyone can join without a code or an invite, especially when it comes to having a 2XKO Slapfest or someting.

An In Game Pulse Indicator:

Alpha Lab 2 introduced Pulse Combos in replacement of the Pulse Fuse because they want to use Pulse while having a different Fuse. In the character select screen, you see the icon when Pulse is on. But I think an in game Pulse Combo indicator can make things easy to tell. When they have Pulse on, it can be either the text of the character name colored purple or the Pulse Combo icon at the upper left hand corner of the in game character portrait. But I think the purple text of the character name would suffice for more clarity, like in BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma where the in game character name text is colored green to make it easy to tell if they're using the Stylish Layout, but colored yellow when they're not.

Bottom line, I love seeing those who use Pulse Combos get their chops busted by those who don't use Pulse Combos at all. Since a Duo Finder is coming next month, if it finds me a duo partner who uses Pulse, it's gonna be a one and done. Pulse Combos are indeed only for scrubs, like Modern Controls in Street Fighter 6, the Smart Style in Fatal Fury and the Special Style in Tekken 8. They involve performing auto combos with one button and one button specials with directional influence like in Smash. And not just Smash, but other platform fighters that have the same control scheme like Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl and Brawlhalla. That's why we need to use Classic Controls in Street Fighter 6 and the Arcade Style in Fatal Fury.

Not to throw shade at Smash, though because really, I do love Smash in general. But if there was a player who is using Pulse, they will get busted by those who don't use Pulse. However, the scrubs term doesn't just refer to players who use auto combos. It also refers to anyone using cake mix, brownie mix and cookie dough rather than starting from scratch and even players using Dokuro in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.

I know I said this before, but I'm gonna say it again. I think God that we didn't take an L like we did with MultiVersus because holy smokes, that would be darning. Talking about Harry Potter. I'm so glad that we have been rewarded for our diligence as fans of 2XKO of letting it thrive. They were waiting for Harry Potter and the game had to be shut down early.

2026 is set to be a huge year for 2XKO as they have a lot of things on the 2026 roadmap and I am already excited for it. We must not spare any of our energy if we don't want 2XKO to die early like MultiVersus did no matter how trash it is.