Here you go – complete with an all-new graphics engine, stereoscopic 3D support and that always controversial English dub. Not to mention the dozens of hours of hack & slash gameplay, too many playable characters to keep track of and plenty of real estate to romp around in. An acquired taste for sure – but hell, sometimes that sort of consistency can be a good thing.
Although I've known this since the days of King's Field and the first Armored Core on the original PlayStation, FromSoftware is quite the powerhouse studio, developing a wide variety of games across many different genres for nearly every major game console since 1994. The upcoming hardcore Action/RPG Dark Souls is looking to be their best work to date, as you'll see in this stunning collection of production art and screen shots. After poring over these screens and art for a few hours, I'd bet real money that Namco Bandai pretty much has an instant Game of the Year contender that's probably going to crush the souls of some players expecting every game to come with a gentle learning curve as standard issue. If Demon's Souls was any indication, I'm betting the new game will be even more unforgiving.
POW! PlatinumGames is pretty much making an instant smash with their upcoming online multiplayer fighter for Sega and these two character profiles show off the highly stylized brawlers and a lot of gorgeous animation in a few brief seconds of in-progress gameplay. I still very much want an offline single player story mode, but we'll see what happens as the game progresses. If there's a company that follows its own drummer, it's Platinum, so I'm not holding out hope for a solo mode…
Man, this year is totally NUTS (nuts, I say!) in terms of killer games releases. Between Dark Souls, Skyrim, Hunted, the Divnity II remix, all the PSP RPGs from Xseed and other companies and a ton of other stuff in all sorts of genres that I want to play until my eyeballs fall out, I’m not only going to need a damn time machine, but an army of clones and a bunch of HDTV’s and game consoles here. Anyone want to lend me a few million dollars? I’ll pay you back, eventually…
“FromSoftware has an excellent pedigree of producing remarkable fan-favorite games that have made a huge impact and invigorated their respective categories,” said Kenji Hisatsune president and CEO, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “The two upcoming games will exemplify this heritage while yet again introducing exciting new ways for gamers to experience these genres.”
“Combining the development power of FromSoftware with NAMCO BANDAI Games’ global publishing expertise will greatly benefit our upcoming projects,” said Eiichi Nakajima, studio head, FromSoftware, Inc. “We look forward to a successful partnership and delivering new revolutionary titles for gamers around the world.”
In the words of the great philosophers: Oh hell, yes.
Sure, 3D is the “latest” gimmick hitting the gaming scene (again, like it or not), but it looks as if this generation’s consoles has finally gotten the effect right (even though I expect those play sessions to be not much longer than they were back in the Master System 3D days). Check out this cool trailer for the upcoming 3DS racer – yeah, it’s good ol’ Ridge Racer, but with a few new tweaks to the formula that should make it a decent enough hit for Nintendo and Namco Bandai.
I figured as much, but waiting for confirmation before rambling on and over-speculating is usually a really good idea. From Software has indeed been toiling away on a follow up to Demon’s Souls, the huge hit for the developer that featured some truly hardcore difficulty as well as an innovative online mode. According to Japanese games magazine Famitsu, the upcoming RPG Dark Souls (formerly Project Dark) is NOT a direct sequel to Demon’s Souls, but explores and expands upon the gameplay found in the first game. Dark Souls will feature a larger, seamless game world with “more complex geometry”, a deeper character creation feature and what’s looking like enhancements to the online play.
Shockingly (well, for some folks), Atlus won’t be localizing or publishing the new game in North America (or anywhere else for that matter). Namco Bandai has the US and European publishing rights, which may mean we’ll see the game on a press tour at some point here in NYC. Additionally, the game will be 360-bound in North America/Europe and a PS3 exclusive in Japan (which is sort of a big “ouch!” to the much smaller Japanese 360 user base). I’d say they could use the instant worldwide sales Dark Souls will no doubt bring them, as a few of their releases from last year didn’t do too well critically. No release date has been announced, but the game is expected to launch before the end of this year.
More info on this as it comes in… stay tuned.
I'd say pretty much anyone who can hold a controller (or, arcade stick if you're a REAL fighting fan) is interested in Capcom's soon to be released instant classic. The ages old “Who'd win in a fight?” question will absolutely be answered many, many times come February 15 on the PS3 and Xbox 360. So, without further adieu, here are six gameplay footage trailers packed into a single post with more to come over the next week or so as I make time to compile them all. Just don't try to watch all of these at the same time as your computer will probably explode.
Three neat UK trailers featuring the NGP's sexyyyy new features, the unit humming along doing its thing, plus the first UK reveal ad. I may have to sell a damn body part to get one, but I have to get my grubby paws on the darn thing thanks to all the exclusives being cooked up for the system. My Slim and 100+ UMD's aren't going anywhere anytime soon, by the way – nice try, though Sony!
And HEY! Where are the US ads like this? Get the train going on the promotion already just so you shut all the haters up and down, already – don't wait for Butler to finish his coffee break either…
Can you believe it’s almost baseball season? Man, time just flies, we’re in for a BIG snowstorm and hell, the Super Bowl hasn’t even taken place yet! Anyway, here’s a look at Sony’s baseball game in this new trailer. Now I want a hot dog, a cold beer and a bag of peanuts…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 