Dragon’s Dogma Demo Day Definitely Doable, Says Capcom

Capcom has revealed that a Dragon’s Dogma demo will indeed be made available over PSN and Xbox Live. Back in January, the company issued a press release stating the upcoming game’s release date (May 22, 2012 for North America) and the awesome news that it will come with a Resident Evil 6 demo. The demo will feature two classes (the melee-based Fighter and bow-wielding Strider) and two different areas, each with a huge boss to defeat. Additionally, players will get to check out the party AI system with three allies (Pawns) fighting alongside them. Based on my experiences with last year’s demo, those Pawns are quite necessary, as the bosses are quite mighty (and mighty cheap).

This updated news about the DD demo should please those who haven’t yet had the chance to try the game out at any of the conventions it’s appeared at. More on the game as soon as new news drops into the inbox here. I see that I have some cool DmC news from Capcom, but I’ll post that later today, as I’m about to head out the door…

Journey Developer Diary: thatgamecompany WIll Make You A Believer

Not only are the folks at thatgamecompany some of the nicest you’ll ever meet, they really know how to make some truly engaging games. While you’re waiting for Journey to drop onto PSN later this month (early reviews are out and yes, the game is a must-buy), take a look behind the curtain and check out what members of the dev team have to say about their baby and the games industry in general. I still think they need to slap all of their games on a Blu-Ray with an art gallery (maybe an actual art book) a soundtrack CD or download with selections from their games and some behind the scenes videos like this one just to get a few more folks who might want to get hooked onto their work up to speed.

Sega’s Hell Yeah!: A Downloadable “What The?!” Curiosity Worth A Shot

Well, well, well… new IP is always a good thing in my book (and killer rabbits are hilarious to me for some reason), but I know the hardcore Sega fanatics are all doubled over backwards asking “Where’s Shenmue III?!!!” or whatever. I’m interested in seeing what’s up with this one as it gets further along in development and yup, I want to see some actual gameplay next time, guys. OK, radar activated, eyeball peeled, watch list checked. Thanks, Sega! Next!

Unit 13 “How To Play” Video: Zip It, Haters.

Yeesh, so the game doesn’t feature some super crazy balls-out 100-player online death-match modes up the wazoo. I say big deal, as I don’t care for that stuff and this early in the Vita’s life cycle, I’ll also suppose any developer would need a bit more time to make sure any competitive MP was running as smoothly and with as little lag or load times as possible. It’s definitely not just a simple “cut and past from the PSP code” deal, I’d bet. Of course, the spoiled/jaded/cranky gamer crowd won’t hear any of this, nor will they face the fact that as much as they WANT the Vita to be a portable PS3, it’s not QUITE going to do that. Yet. For me, as long as any game this early on is well-made, I’m aboard with any compliments and complaints I’ll have placed exactly where they should be.

A Few More SSX Trailers To Twist Your Arm A Little (Ouch)…

Well, not like a nasty arm twist you’d get from a bad board crash, but more of a gentle reminder that the game is pretty darn awesome and definitely worth snapping up. OK, all this twisting and snapping talk is making me queasy.  Just buy the game before I barf…

 

Two more “hey, I need to get this game” trailers below the jump! Continue reading

Gravity Rush Live-Action Trailer: Another Reason To Get a Vita…

Don’t try to read too much into this as far as any “messages” go, folks. It’s just a cool ad designed to get you interested in another awesome Vita launch window game. Created by some of the team behind the Siren games (for my money, one of the most frightening series to date), this one’s a completely different and yes, gravity defying experience that’s a must-buy killer app. It’s also proof that the handheld is a LOT more than “just  a hopped up PSP” as I heard some 3DS owner claim a few days ago. Of course, I just had to ask him if he’s actually had the chance to try the Vita out and yup, he admitted that he didn’t. Sorry, but that sort of ignorance gets you a BUSTED rating here at DAF.

Sure, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but as soon as they creep over into the fact section and you start brewing up that pitcher of hateorade (in new bile flavor, Oh Yeeeeeaaaah!), a little gentle smackdown must be applied.  Respect gets respect, I say, and broadening one’s horizons only makes you a better person in any subject at the end of the day. I like the 3DS as well as the Vita for different reasons and there are great titles for BOTH systems that make for some fine entertainment.

OK, that’s a solid 100 posts for this month – whee. Act-ually, it’s a solid 120 posts when you include the stuff on the other DAF blog (feel free to sign up if you like – I can always use the extra traffic). I should celebrate a little, but I’m actually focusing on being even MORE productive with so much going on that I need to cover. That said, here’s a live-action WipEout 2048 trailer – another great reason to be a Vita owner, I say.

 

SSX Update: Real Life WInter Still Stinks, But The Game Absolutely Does Not…

Welcome to Siberia and Alaska (and no, you can’t see one location from the other in the game if you stare at the screen long enough) Outside here, it’s just miserable and non-wintry, but in SSX, you’ll find nothing but white stuff all around. From what I’ve played of it. everything is rock solid and FUN, except those rocks and other solid objects you’ll collide with when you get cocky and careless. Those are not fun. Still, for total sports cowards like me, it beats actually getting on a REAL snowboard and getting a an adrenaline fix right before I crash into a tree or land on the spinning blades of the helicopter that just dropped me off on that run (ouch). Anyway, go buy this one, I say – you get to do stuff you can’t on a real board without those pesky, expensive medical bills and long periods of recuperation and rehab…

DiRT Showdown “What Goes On Tour” Video Takes You For A Ride…

Codemasters’ powerful Ego engine is pretty spectacular for whatever they use it on and I’d say this upcoming all-purpose rally/destruction racer is really pushing it as far as it can go. I’m loving all the modes I’ve seen as now I probably don’t need to keep digging out so many different types of racers in order to get a few different road fixes taken care of. Granted, I really STILL want a solid, PURE rally game from the team down the road that’s even better than what’s here. But I’m certainly not complaining about how much fun I’ll be having when the game is finally out sometime in May 2012 (PS3, Xbox 360 and PC).

Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II “Reunion” Trailer: Change Is Good (Unless You’re A Nitpicker Who Thinks It’s Not)…

While I’d still prefer Sega just get all the parts done and release this on a DISC with all the other Genesis/Saturn/Dreamcast Sonic games ever made (they’ll fit on a single Blu-Ray comfortably, I’d bet), we’ll have to “settle” for installments. The good thing is, the dev team is addressing the complaints about Part 1 and it looks as if the animation is fixed up quite nicely. Of course, SOME people out there are going on and on about how the game doesn’t PERFECTLY replicate the Genesis version to a T in terms of every single animation or how some parts seem to take control away from the player and so forth and so on. I say knock it ff and wait for the game (or at least a demo) to drop before swallowing that foot.

Jet Set Radio Finally Returns (This Time On PSN/XBLA)

Excellent, but I have mixed feeling about this one. How funny that a very physical game based on the physical acts of graffiti and trick skating is coming back as a digital-only title. Well, kudos to Sega for FINALLY getting this one out there to the masses, but still. I recall that Jet Set Radio Future on the Xbox had some killer PR goodies such as a set of awesome headphones and a CD soundtrack and yes, a NEW disc version would have been cool just for a documentary on the original JSR and the sequel how they changed gaming. I still remember the first time I saw those ‘cel-shaded’ graphics running on the Dreamcast and thought they were the best thing to hit gaming in a while. Hopefully, all those folks that have never played either game will be as awed as I was back in the day.  We shall see…