Unlike most game series, there was no way to tell even which genre Sega's fourth DS Bleach game would be, after the company jumped abruptly from 2D fighting games to a tactical RPG. Video footage of the new Bleach DS 4th: Flame Bringer, spotted by Siliconera, reveals the new game to be yet another departure from previous works -- this time, in the form of a side-scrolling action-platformer.

The two videos, visible after the break, show Ichigo Kurasaki traversing levels that scroll both horizontally and vertically across both DS screens, and performing crazy sword combos. Flame Bringer is out August 6 in Japan. We'll have to wait just a bit, since its predecessor has yet to be released in North America.

[Via Siliconera]

Prepare thy selves, Twitter fiends, as @SEGA is giving away goodies as part of its #FreeStuffFriday. The items up for the taking are:

• MadWorld Wii decal set, soundtrack CD and poster signed by the PlatinumGames team.
• OutRun Online Arcade t-shirt (size large) and free game code.
• Bleach Kon plushie and Nintendo DS stylus.
• Nights: Journey of Dreams soundtrack CD sampler, wristband and a SEGA sweet.
• Football Manager "Gameplay > Polygons" t-shirt (size large) and a SEGA lip balm.
• A grow-your-own venus fly trap plant and a SEGA lip balm.

To win the items, Twitter users need to follow @SEGA, which will follow them in return. During Friday, the account will announce the package, along with a "special code phrase." The first follower to direct-message the phrase will win the pack. Sounds simple enough ... unless the "fail whale" shows up.

The Heat the Soul series is already up to its sixth iteration in Japan, and it seems like none of these Bleach games will ever find their way stateside. Strange, considering it's a Sony first-party game across the pond. The fighting franchise has been getting better with every iteration, with larger casts, better graphics and sleeker presentation. We won't hold our breath for an English language release, so enjoy this footage -- it's the closest we can come to the game without importing it.

We spotted Bleach: The 3rd Phantom on GameStop's "coming soon" list a month ago, but it's taken until just now for Sega of America to make an official announcement. According to the press release, The 3rd Phantom will be out this fall. We have the first English screenshots in our gallery.

The 3rd Phantom, unlike the last two DS Bleach games, is a strategy RPG, with an original storyline that "shed[s] light on events that transpire before the animated series begins," focusing on two Soul Reaper twins named Fujimaru Kudo and Matsuri Kudo. The new RPG will feature voice work from the Bleach anime cast.

Over fifty playable characters are available, with many unlocked through the management of "personal relationships through in-game dialog interactions and various other conditions." Exactly what Bleach fans want out of their fighting manga series!

Sega has announced a fourth DS Bleach game, called, appropriately enough, Bleach DS 4th: Flame Bringer. The first two DS games were fighting games developed by Treasure, and the third is an internally-developed tactical RPG. So basically we have no idea what Flame Bringer will be. The official teaser site isn't telling! We'll find out when Sega decides to release any gameplay information at all. We're guessing "RPG," since Treasure just did a Bleach fighter for Wii.

And on the subject of its predecessor, GameStop reveals that The 3rd Phantom is coming to the US! We expect that the September 9 release date is a placeholder, although any Sega release on that date would be very cool.

[Via Siliconera]

What? Another Bleach game? Sony is beating Madden by making this fighting game a more-than-annual affair. Granted, Heat the Soul is quite possibly the best looking and best playing iteration of the popular anime series on any console. Let's hope Sony isn't tiring the fanbase out a bit too quickly with the number of Bleach games they've created.

Maybe SCEA (or Sega?) can help bring one of these games to the States? Please?

We're pretty sure people still like the Bleach manga and anime, and we like Treasure, and everyone likes a good online fighting game, so Bleach: Versus Crusade seems like a winner. Since Sega localized both previous Treasure Bleach games for the DS, we wouldn't be too surprised to see this one come along as well. Sega isn't making any hints in this trailer, though -- the Wi-Fi section overlays two gameplay videos over a map of Japan.

The trailer looks totally great, if a bit hyperfast for our comprehension! We're anxious (and slightly worried) to see how Treasure fares at creating a 3D fighter.

We think we're going to have to start reading or watching Bleach so we know what's going on in Bleach Versus Crusade and the DS fighting games. Our interest in the DS games has been motivated mostly by love of developer Treasure, and that is certainly driving our desire to play the Wii game as well. But we can't help but think that it would be nice to know who all these people are and why they're fighting.

Even as a context-free fighting game, however, we think Versus Crusade looks pretty nice. You can see for yourself in the latest batch of screens, originally posted on the official site, but visible in a much less annoying Flash interface on Wiiz.

Dear Sony Computer Entertainment,

You do know that there are a lot of Bleach fans here in the US, right? The DS game, Blade of Fate sold 250,000 copies here in the States. Granted, that's the best-selling Bleach game out there, but we'd like to think that the PSP games would fare pretty well. At the very least, it should sell enough copies to break even -- especially if you release it directly on the PlayStation Store.

If for some reason you don't want to publish it, we'll be glad to take it off your hands. Provided you're willing to sell the license to us for about $42.90. Because that's how much the game costs on import site Play-Asia.

Love,
PSP Fanboy

There are probably two questions our readers are most likely to have about Bleach: Soul Carnival, PSP's upcoming 2D chibi-reworking of the popular Shonen Jump series. First: is it good? Second: will it come out to the States? In spite of a strong following in the States (and a slew of other Bleach titles on the Wii and DS), it doesn't appear as if there are any plans on bringing any of Sony's Bleach games out of Japan. And that's a shame, really. Soul Carnival looks to be a worthwhile addition to the PSP lineup.

The Heat the Soul series on PSP were met with fan excitement, thanks to their diverse rosters and impressive graphics. However, with five iterations in less than five years, it was clear that Sony had milked that franchise a bit too much. With Soul Carnival, the Bleach series moves away from being a serious fighter, to a cute 2D sidescrolling brawler.

Well, we approve of the transformation. While the chibi Bleach characters will be love/hate amongst series fans, we have to say that these new cute interpretations of series favs looks rather charming on the PSP's small screen. They style works very well with the gameplay as well. The intuitive beat-em-up controls make the game instantly accessible -- an aspect crucial in good portable games design.

An interesting week for releases around the globe, though the news will, of course, be dwarfed in the wake of all things DSi. Among this week's noteworthy titles are Prey the Stars (at last!), and Korg DS-10 for Europe.

• Bleach: Dark Souls
• Crash: Mind Over Mutant
• Imagine: Babysitters
• Imagine: Fashion Designer New York
• Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2
• Pop Cutie: Street Fashion Simulation
• Prey the Stars
• Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals

If Treasure is going to continue making Bleach fighting games -- Bleach: Versus Crusade is the third, a very unusual occurrence for a developer that shuns sequels in general -- we're going to have to start learning things about the Bleach series. Right now it's "that one anime with the Treasure fighting games." Actually, now that we think about it, that's enough. We don't really care who all these people are; we're quite satisfied to know them only as cool-looking cel-shaded characters in this game, who often fight in tag teams.

It's possible that this game will play much like the DS Bleach games. Versus Crusade, according to this Famitsu post, supports both the Classic Controller and the GameCube controller. That doesn't rule out a continuation of the existing Wii Bleach style, but the Treasure involvement suggests otherwise.

Sega has announced a followup to its Bleach GameCube/Wii fighting game series, as pretty much everyone expected -- it's a manga license, for one, and other consoles' Bleach series have been prone to sequelitis. The latest fighting game is called Bleach: Versus Crusade, which is maybe the most straightforward name for a fighting game ever. It looks sufficiently like Shattered Blade that we're going to guess that Polygon Magic is still developing.

These scans from Shonen Jump reveal the first screens of the new 3D fighter, which features online battles. In addition, Sega's Versus Crusade site has opened in teaser form, promising new content on the 29th. The Sega x Bleach portal site already has a short video of the game in action (it's chapter 2 on the sidebar).

Want to try the Wii fighting game that Gamespot rated a 3.5 "bad"? No? What if we told you that it was based on an anime series? Actually, Gamespot's review score for Bleach: Shattered Blade is way on the low end of a fairly equal distribution of scores from 35% all the way up to 80%. What does that mean for us? It means we have no idea whether or not we'd like it, and neither does the reviewing community in general.

If you ever wanted to try Shattered Blade, either due to Bleach fandom or love of fighting, today would be a good day for it. It's Amazon's Deal of the Day for $20.

Sony's been keeping their upcoming PSP-exclusive chibi Bleach game under wraps for quite some time. A trailer hidden in the last Heat the Soul game revealed this upcoming 2D action title, but little has been seen since then. Well, a new Japanese ad is ready to introduce the game to the masses. The game, which will be available in Japan in October, will undoubtedly tear up the sales charts like every other major PSP release these days.