You may recall that I did the illustration cover art for the European release of Blazblue. After the success of the game’s release last year, I was sent a giant box load of stuff.
The mail lady gave me her usual smile.
“Good morning!” she exclaimed. “Got a really big package for you today!”
I stared at it, a bit shocked, trying to remember what the heck it was that I bought online. It didn’t look like a box of figures. I rarely do combined shipping. And it was heavy too!
Bringing it in, I looked at the shipping label and knew exactly who it was from. I was super excited to open the box and see what was inside. I was expecting to receive a couple of copies of the game, but I did not expect this! The guys at Zen really know how to say thanks! I was floored.
Lots and LOTS of swag laid out on my desk.
Konata is overjoyed, of course. She’s literally swimming in it! You may recall this image a while back in one of my random posts.
I got some T-shirts too! It’s quite an amazing sensation to see one’s own artwork on a mass-production T-shirt.
Of course, rather than wear it myself, here’s a model wearing it. Double Plus on that sensation when a hot girl is wearing a T-shirt with one’s artwork on it.
A stack of postcards. I believe these were distributed at the trade shows.
A personally signed postcard from the owner at Zen United. Seeing this again brings happiness to my heart. It was an honor working with him. I couldn’t have asked for a better client, really.
Included were a bunch of other promo goods including stickers, and some European game magazines featuring Blazblue and other media press. Toshimichi Mori actually looked at and approved the cover art!
The editions of the games I got. They’re for different parts of Europe!
A beautifully decorated 2010 calendar. Full color illustrations inside. Also two comic books. You could call them doujinshi, but they’re official. 🙂
And the butterfly package in the back is actually a “clubzone” type magazine called Don’t Panic. The Blazblue poster was distributed through them as well, though those posters are folded, and there’s something unrelated on the back.
Delicious UK snacks. It’s interesting how Walkers looks almost exactly like Lays. They don’t taste the same though.
Good heavens, would you care for a spot of tea with the good professor?
My copy of the LE on the left, North American version, and the UK release on the right. Obviously, the UK release wins. The content inside wins too. North America got shafted.
I confess, I broke the seal to check out the contents inside. The game is still sealed though. I have no intention of selling this anyway, so no point keeping it wrapped up.
Now this is interesting… It’s a barrel… of something…
This was the original Blazblue illustration I did, and that got printed into a poster. I actually did the overlay for the whole thing too. That’s why you see “Trickshot Games” there. 😛
The original image wasn’t quite the right dimensions for the poster size, so I redid the borders, and I also made the text match the final cover.
So how big is this poster?
Noel poses beside them to give you a sense of scale.
Unfortunately, this poster is now sold out. I think 800,000 of these were printed out, and now they’re all gone! But I’ve got some, and I want to give some away.
So here’s the deal, go to my facebook page at https://facebook.com/radiantdreamer and click LIKE on the post that links back to this one. (You’ll have to be a fan first if you aren’t already).
How many posters I give away will depend on how many people click that like button. Winners are randomly chosen.
Winners will each receive one poster, signed by me (if you’d like), in a poster tube (so it’s not folded or damaged during shipment).
Get on it now! I’ll announce the winners later!
Read more!
That artbook..so..much..want! D:
D’you think they sell separately tho? I want to fawn over epic BlazBlue designs to kingdom come. oUo
I don’t think they sell it separately, no. You’d have to get the LE of the game.
Congrats!
That is totally badass!
I wouldn’t mind a poster of the woman wearing the shirt, LOL
lol yeah she’s pretty hot. ^^
Wow congratz! Your work is plastered all over the place now 😀 Even on girls! XD Yes, short shirt + thigh highs = WIN!
Haha it’s been plastered all over the place for quite a while now. I just never got to blogging about it. O_o;
Awww yea! I should draw a fan-art of her someday. I’m sure she’ll be happy about it. 😛
Did you… create this? I’m a bit confused….. >.<
But I'm pretty sure you drew some of these no? Anyway, AWSOME!!! (BTW, that otaku fashion one changed my life for the better… ^,^)
Oooo i didn’t know you did the cover art for Blazblue! Too bad it was only for UK, and not worldwide, the art is gorgeous!
Unfortunately I’m still in the process of deleting my Faceboo account so won’t be able to join this giveaway ^^;;
Did I give you my business card last time? It’s got Noel on it. Maybe I didn’t?
Still, all across Europe makes me very happy. 🙂
ooo you did but it wasn’t of Noel ^^;;;
aaah, I must have given you my Radiant Dreamer card. Those are rare now! I actually don’t have anymore of those left! ^^;
Congratz!!
I actually owned one of those posters before my appartement got water damaged…. anyway hope to see your work in further bb / zen united published games.
You did? Dang! That’s pretty cool to hear! Well, if you want a chance at winning one, like the blog post! 🙂
I did 😉
sweet! Well, I don’t know who you’d be out of the ones that clicked like (which is for the better, I suppose), so best of luck!
lol, yep thats better ^^ fair chances for all
btw, you’ve got maybe the noel version of this poster in a 1920×1080 resolution?
Unfortunately, no. Zen only printed the Ragna illustration as a poster.
There were some high-gloss Noel ones printed, but those were very different, and were plastered with marketing labels. I didn’t get those ones.
Oh well i meant as a desktop wallaper in that resolution ^^;
oic. Sorry no dice. 😐
Loot of so much win! Especially since they’re free! *~*
The stickers are so adorable! I kinda want that Noel! *~*
To be honest, I haven’t played Blazblue yet since I don’t have a PS3 or an Xbox and it’s not in the arcades T_T; Do they have a PSP version? ._.
Noel is absolutely adorable. ^^ She has “washboard syndrome” like Etna from Disgaea does. 🙂
Ya, there actually is a Blazblue for PSP! And I did the artwork for that too!
http://www.pre-ordergames.co.uk/img/product/orig/Blazblue-Calamity-Trigger-p-1281442104.jpg
I feel so bad that I haven’t played Disgaea either. I’ve missed so much games! :c but that’s because I couldn’t use .isos or whatever you call them on the PSP *hides from pirate hunters*
I wonder if UK UMDs would work on a PSP from HK (that’s my brother’s btw. LOL). Hrm. I should try getting a hold of a Blazblue copy with your artwork XD
Don’t worry! I haven’t played Disgaea yet either! 😛
Oh using ISOs? Baaad! I’m glad you’re legit. Actually, what I’ve done is buy the games, and rip them to ISOs so I can run them off the memory stick. It loads faster that way, and puts less wear on the UMD drive. Now that I have a PSP Go as well, it’s become more important to rip ISOs. After all, I like my physical copies, so I’m not going to buy them off of the Playstation Network.
PSP is region free, so yes, UK UMDs will work on your PSP.
Hmm…I think I want that Noel at the end the most followed by that Ragna poster. You know that nice looking white box with the logo is cool. Too bad that doesn’t float here in the US where covers usually plaster the characters or their disembodied heads.
Still that’s a lot of cool swag, any BlazBlue fan would be overjoyed to get that much stuff.
lol yeah, that Noel is sweet. She’s also a very nice person IRL.
I agree. I’ve always liked LEs that are more… valuable looking, and nothing makes a statement of value like a well graphically designed cover with lots of white space. I think that since it’s LE, you’ve already decided to sell it to a specific market who are looking to buy the game. There’s no need to plaster it with overly colorful packaging to stand out on store shelves.
I was indeed overjoyed! 😀
Holy craps, thats box full of goodies made of win!
ive never this game…maybe i should^^”
It’s a pretty good fighting game! It has a lot more story than Street Fighter, and quite a large variety of characters with utterly different styles of fighting. If you’ve ever played (and liked) Guilty Gear, then Blazblue will be right up your alley.
Wowee thats a box chock fulla awesome!… I’m not a huge fighting game fan (mostly because I suxors at them), but they always have interesting looking characters.
Is that Noel the same seductive t-shirt model? Sure looks like it…
I’m not that great at fighting games either. ^^;
I do like the character designs for Blazblue. They’re quite unique and memorable.
Yes, that model is dressed as Noel too.
oh god… it’s been so long since you drew it and to see all this merchandises now, wow.
man… this is amazing! *Clap clap*
On a side note, how did you ever got in touch with them that you were able to sent in a drawing for a cover art?
heh yeah my laziness and procrastination sort of got the best of me. It took a bit TOO long to post this.
Well, I won a contest they ran, hosted by NeoGAF. My artwork was voted for in a landslide victory. Zen liked my work so much, they just wanted me to do more for them.
Wow, that’s a lotsa of things to come in a box. >w<
If I were a Blazblue fan I would die of excitement with all these.
But I haven't played Blazblue yet, still in my "must play" list when I get a ps3. xD
I didn't know you did the artwork for them (have been accompaning your blog for just 4 months), so I was going to make the same above question made by 'thenewhorde'.
Just submited the comment and you already replied the question, lol xD
lol blazblue fan or not, I was definitely happy to get all this swag. 🙂
It’s a game worth playing. The mechanics and gameplay are so drastically different from any other fighting game.
I did the artwork for them quite some time ago, actually. ^^; Just never got to posting about the swag part until now. Just procrastinated too much lol.
Too bad the model is not part of the shirt. I want the girl…um, shirt. lol
lol you and me both. 😉
Whoa…..TONS of goodies. GRATZ
U deserved it anyway ^^ This is the result when your art become famous through out the world (maybe someday) ><
BTW, don't it also have the art book with Noel as cover???I really want to have that book…..
Wait…
Does this blog can eat away my words???
does it?! Only if you’re spam!
That’s no way I could spam here…
and also, 1 paragraph I wrote just disappear after I submit comment..
Let me check the spam filters to see if your message got eaten up. Do you remember which post you commented on?
Of course this post…= =
Sorry, spam filter shows nothing. Looks like something probably just went wrong on your end.
Well, I don’t know if I would consider myself “famous”. But I guess that definition varies depending on who you ask. 🙂
The artbook comes with the Limited Edition of the Europe release of Blazblue. Get your hands on that, and you’ve got yourself the artbook.
Haha, at least UK and US you are famous at there already.
Hmmm, could you help me on that???
p/s: I don’t have paypal, bank acc or whatever…==
how to get???
If I could help you out on that, then I will try, but as it stands, I’m no PR specialist. haha.
you can get paypal by going to paypal.com. you do need either a bank account, or a credit card registered with them in order to send money. Otherwise, you’ll have to get people to send you money first (like selling stuff on ebay) so you get some paypal funds.
Hmmm….so at first I need bank acc…OK I will try to settle that ASAP. But the price is high??
PR specialist??
setting up a paypal account is free.
PR means Public Relations. They’re people that advertise you and make you famous. (but you have to pay them big money!)
Then once again, can you help me get it 1st??? I know this is kind of ridiculous request…If can’t also quite OK. I will go find it by myself after I have money (hope I can really get it ><)
p/s: i don't have any PS2 or PS3 gadgets
BTW, does paypal not support any bank??Or it support every bank??
haha yeah that’s my own personal copy. Not for you sorry! You’ll have to find it yourself somehow…
If you don’t have a PS3, then you won’t be able to play Blazblue. But if all you’re after is the art book, then perhaps there’s someone on ebay that’s selling just the art book (you never know!).
I don’t know what Paypal accepts for banks. You’ll have to read their help section. Cheers!
Ermm…okay, I’ll try my very best to do it.
Hmmm…have any other online shops similar to amazon and ebay???
you can also try gamestop if they send to your area, as well as BestBuy, and Futureshop. There are various other online stores, you just have to google it, and then find out from others if these stores are legit or not (usually if they’re not, some forum poster somewhere will have mentioned it).
Alright, thanks of your suggestions.
Want to ask a off-topic question, about blog.
Let say now your blog is on wordpress, and now you want to change it to your own domain without changing its contents.
Is it possible??
It’s a bit off topic, so I’d prefer you email me on this kind of thing, but yes it is possible, and no, I won’t give you the details on how to do it because it’s just way too much to go over (even in email).
Ooooo…ok
But seriously I don’t know your email address ><
The contact form is on the top right corner of the blog.
Oh ya, if you don’t mind I will tell you the reasons are so that you are not misunderstand about what the motive I am ><
Actually now I want to test on wordpress to create a blog, in the future, I just want to change it as my domain just the same as you are without change its whole content.
I'm not really satisfied with the blogger now, since wordpress have more apps than blogger that I may need to, so I may "closed" mine one at blogger instead of "reborn" at wordpress.
That what's I think of.
The wordpress documentation on the wordpress.com website has all the details you need. That’s how I figured all this out! ^^
Yes, wordpress is far more robust, in my opinion. 😀
Do it! Do the switch!
If you don’t mind, can I ask all questions at once at here??? All about blog.
Then I think I will not bother you anymore with this kind of questions, unless it is too complicated until I can’t understand it.
><
It’s best not to. It’s off topic. Not to worry though, I do have plans to write a blog post specifically about blogging.
It is a little complicated though, especially if you don’t have any understanding/basics of running a self-hosted blog.
Oh I see.
Thanks to you 1st lo. ^^
Oh wow! Looks like Zen United really did treat you nicely. Shame they don’t extend that courtesy to us European gamers!
After the debacle that was the release of both CT ans CS, I have nothing good to say about them in terms of their business (and don’t get me started on the DLC), other than the bit where they sold me a massive art panel of Noel which they were using to advertise CS at a convention (the thing is actually too big to fit into my room. I have to bend it at the bottom a bit to make it stand up!)
Well, I also got 2 CT artbooks and the CS artbook as well. The CT artbook is much better IMO.
I’m not really sure what you mean by debacle. I wasn’t up to date on that whole thing.
You’ll have to show me a picture of that massive art panel. I really want to see it! 😀
Sounds to me like you’re a BB collector! In terms of artbooks, I only have that one that came with the LE. What other artbooks are there?
I shouldn’t really get started when ranting about Zen united, but to start off, they delayed the release of the game by over 2 months because they had a problem with the xbox 360 DLC. so instead of getting the game in October, it wasn’t until early december when it was finally released. When it did arrive, the updates for the 360 didn’t work properly and they gave Valkenhyn to 360 owners for a discount. DLC was made available on the day of release. PS3 owners didn’t get a price drop and had to wait an extra week for the DLC.
Carrying on, they planned to release a special “fan” edition of the game which included the limited edition version of the game, an artwork by alvin lee which was also used as the front cover for the regular edition (and ugly as sin!! You grafitti cover was better!), Nendo Noel and Makoto DLC. but they wanted to ask for £60 for it. I ordered but then cancelled when I found an online retailer was selling it with Nendo for £40. Even with with DLC, it came to be much cheaper than the fan edition zen were selling. But to add insult to injury, after they had to delay the game, they added a mousepad of Taokaka to the fan edition and when it arrived, buyers found that they had printed “good things come to fans who wait” on it! the CHEEK!!!! Oh, and Euro PS3 owners missed out on the worldwide DLC sale. I’m pretty sure that Sony weren’t solely to blame for that though! I think that was everything… At least for Continuum shift!
They released a second artbook with the limited edition of Continuum shift. It was more of a collection of various artworks, much of which could be found in the game gallery but there was also a lot of focus in the rough sketches for the various characters. Some would have made some great artwork if they were ever completed. Overall, it was much weaker than the first one, but it was a freebie!
And here’s a shot of my Noel Artpanel:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/gundamjehutykai/random/loot-2.jpg
They also had one of Mu-12 but I chose Noel instead
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/gundamjehutykai/random/MCMexpo-28.jpg
Oh dear… ^^;
Let me start by saying that your points are valid. In the end, when someone is expecting you to deliver on time and you don’t, those people get disappointed.
But let me say this in their defense – nobody wants to delay something. Nobody wants to deliver poor quality either. Poor decisions are made sometimes, yes, but never are these decisions meant to hurt the consumer. Decisions are made to the best of one’s knowledge, and sometimes it’s not enough to project what sort of repercussions that may have.
I’m sure there were a lot of “wtf were they thinking?!” comments going around, but I’m most certain that Zen was doing what they could with the best of intentions. I can say this only because I’ve worked with them and know what they are like. If they were jerks, I’d know and I would say it like it is all the same.
Those art panels look fantastic, dude! I personally like the Mu-12 one because of “dat-ass”, but that’s just personal preference. ^^
Well, While I agree that no publisher wants to delay their products, it was also the general lack of response from the company (they announced delays via twitter and even made a joke post on their facebook page about the delivery of the game being underway by saying “good news! BB:CS got delayed again and several popular characters got EU specific nerfs! J/K”) as well as the perception they are giving off that they are favouring one version of the game (360) over the other. The game delay also seriously hurt the chances of the game performing well at retail as pretty much all interest in the game died due to the delays and, with Marvel vs Capcom 3 being released next month, it’s got no chance of getting better. It probably would have been better to release the PS3 version alone and release the 360 version once the problems with it were fixed but by holding back for a simultaneous release, I think overall sales really suffered and the game was sold at budget price on release!
I wouldn’t say that the people in the company are jerks (I’ve met them and they seem like good ppl) but rather that they are very poorly organised and run. Plus, the quote on the mousepad was definitely NOT well received, even if it was a poorly thought out joke!
If another company like Rising Star games (who are giving us Deathsmiles in Europe! WOO!!!) took over the BB license, I suspect there would be cheers in the BB fanbase!
And I liked “dat Ass” too but given the size, I didn’t think it was appropriate for my wall. Noel was hard enough to get back home!! can you imagine walking through a tourist spot in london wiht that panel of Mu next to you?
hmmm… I can’t really comment on that, unfortunately, and you know it. 😐
You’re right about that Mu board. I don’t think my wife would like it very much lol!
Really didn’t expect to come in your site seeing a blond model wearing a t-shirt of your art and thigh highs ^^; Quite an eye candy I have to say ^^;
But what really caught my attention are those Walkers Cheese & Onion crisps. On a random note there aren’t too many crisp packages that are blue for cheese and onion flavour, as it’s usually green I see for other brands and blue is usually for salt and vinegar. Lays is pretty much the American counterpart of the British Walkers brand, hence they share the same logo design 😮
Seriously, if I have the power to do it, I would have snatch that package from you across this computer screen! We only have Lays over in Hong Kong *most* of the time!
Back to topic. This looks like a really big Thank you from Zen United! You’d do more stuff like this in the future right? Say, I have a feeling that these stuff are not too recent. When have you received them? 😛
yessss…. eye candy… she’s very pretty, that’s for sure. 🙂
I’m guessing Walkers did that sort of packaging to differentiate itself from other Cheese and Onion flavor packages. I guess it can confuse those who are looking for Salt & Vinegar flavor.
I was talking to the owner at Zen, and he’s saying that Walkers is slightly different than Lays, even though they seem the same. I can say “yeah, sort of”. There are slight differences, but overall, it’s still a potato chip (or “Crisps” as the British call them).
Are Lays really that good? I find them just okay. They’re a bit… flaky to be honest. I like Ruffles brand more. There’s more substance and crunch to the chip. Mind you, Lays, especially regular flavor, is healthier than the other simulated flavors – I mean, it contains just salt, potatoes, and oil. That’s about it. All the simulated flavors have so much other crap in it!!
Hopefully, I’ll be able to do more stuff for them in the future. I did do another piece of art for their PSP cover, and a Ragna one smashing glass or something for one of their artbook illustrations.
Awesome that they sent that to you! What a great client!
I actually seen the cover art in a game store in the UK not to long ago haha had to double take on it and was like: Hey! Thats Radiant’s artwork!
haha that must be quite an interesting experience to see artwork from someone you know, on the cover. 😀
Since don’t live in the UK, I can’t see my cover in the stores. 🙁
Wow, that’s pretty cool!! Congrats!!! =D The cover looks better than the NA version!
thanks. 🙂 That’s a pretty awesome thing to say. The artwork coming out of Japan is incredible. Knowing that you think it looks better than that makes me feel quite good about myself. 😉
For sure, you’ve done a great job – it’s definitely something to be proud of (and to brag about)! LOL
Wow, congrats!! It has always been my dream to illustrate for games etc — I think I can feel your joy! Good work 🙂
I’ll keep working hard too haha — hopefully someday I can get that box of loot too!
thanks tablecolor! It’s good to see you’re back! 😀
obviously, it’s not the goodies that are important, but the joy of creating the art and being accepted. 😉
Gambatte!
Grats on the fantastic art! Also YAY for having Layton out again!! I’m happy to see the little guy out and about sipping tea.
haha I took these pictures a LONG time ago, so no, Layton’s still sleeping.
Congrats buddy on your phenomenal success! 🙂
-Jason
yo thanks man. 😀
I’m not a gamer but this is awesome! ^^ Congrats!
thank you very much, Xine. Tell all your friends! hahaha
WAIT A SEC! whats that 1+something on here chest!? you doin the kissXsis thing!?
So um.. About that model-
No one won her yet, right? 😛
hahaha oh you. I don’t think she’d appreciate you considering her a “prize” to be won.
Totally stealing that model photo for my phone background XD
Hey don’t steal my work! haha just kidding.
Oh no no, I’m not laying claim to it XD (although I may like and say the woman wearing the clothes is mine, I’m sure no one will believe me though xD)