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Capcom developers behind Devil May Cry 4 (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PC) recently shed light on design decisions that made the action-packed game as promising as it is. Some interesting factoids were brought up, such as the reason behind not requiring Xbox 360 owners to install the game in their hard drives, DMC4 having hot babes, and Dante's badass Pandora weapon.

Aside from confirming Dante loves pizza - simply because it's that good - producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi explained one of the reasons why the sword-slinger starts off with a plethora of kick-ass abilities off the bat. According to him, it's because Dante has become a very powerful character story-wise, as seen when Devil May Cry 3 (a prequel featuring younger Dante) ended with him able to utilize four combat styles then became stronger with a superior Devil Trigger form in the first DMC.

On the other hand, both PS3 and Xbox 360 owners can be assured that they're not missing anything, since the only difference Kobayashi noted is that the version on Sony's console is clearer. This is due to different compression methods used and not because of the larger Blu-ray format, he said.

Those keeping tabs on the game already know it asks PS3 owners to install the game to the hard drive before playing. According to Kobayashi, the same could've been implemented on the Xbox 360 version if Microsoft gave the green light. The platform holder apparently disapproved because some models of its consoles don't have hard disk drive storage.

When asked how Devil May Cry 4 improves on its predecessor, director Hideaki Itsuno took the opportunity to let everyone know that this iteration of the demon-slaying series is friendly not only to fans, but also to those who haven't played the game.

On adding more than a single hot lady to the game, Itsuno said, "We weren't thinking so much about balancing out the roster of characters as much as we just wanted to put a lot of sexy ladies in this game! The more cool guys and sexy ladies the better, right?"

Of course, now that both Trish and Lady are in a single package, Itsuno reassures old fans will enjoy learning more about Dante's relationships with the two. "I'm also hoping that new fans will become interested in the other games in the series after learning a bit about Dante and his very interesting friends," he added.

Dante's Pandora, the multi-purpose weapon which can transform into various guns and even a rocket launcher, also piqued our interest. Here's what Itsuno had to say about it:

I wanted to have a transforming, multi-purpose firearm in Dante's arsenal... In its final form I wanted it to transform into something that would be even bigger than Dante himself. I was thinking about Gundam when I asked for this. I also wanted the weapon to shoot out a lot of small missiles, kind of like some of the fighters in Macross.

He admitted that it could have been in Devil May Cry 3, but idea didn't materialize. In that installment, we were able to wield an electric guitar and talking twin swords, so it's difficult to complain.

For the full interview, click on the "Via" link below.



Buy: [ Devil May Cry 4 (360) ]
Buy: [ Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) ]
Buy: [ Devil May Cry 4 (PC) ]

Nicolo S. on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized | Comments Off -

Because we can't get enough of Devil May Cry 4 (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PC) before Capcom finally ships it west, here's another trailer made of gameplay footage and awesome accompanied by a fitting song from prominent Japanese band L'arc en Ciel. A good chunk features Dante head-to-head with Nero, but most parts are all about the new protagonist.

If anything, this new Japanese trailer is a collection of the best we've seen before - Fallen Angels swarming Nero, the Devil Bringer put into good use, and the good 'ol combos that end in slam dunks. Words aren't enough to describe how Capcom patched up something great from previously shown footage of Devil May Cry 4, so just watch the embed below.

Buy: [ Devil May Cry 4 (360) ]
Buy: [ Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) ]
Buy: [ Devil May Cry 4 (PC) ]

Nicolo S. on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized | Comments Off -

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, it’s only fair to start dealing out some details on the some of the new features you’ll get to experience in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, the reasoning behind the new title and what you can expect from the hours (hours, upon hours) of great golfing fun, both online and offline.

One of the things that the Hot Shots franchise has been known for is the way that it’s always found new way to immerse the player into the sport (be it golf or tennis). As past installments go, there’s always been a new something-something that’s had fans returning for more - of course, its needless to speak of the core features (fun characters, ease of use and great courses) that constantly bring in new fans as well.

While on the topic of new features, one of HSG:OB’s new cool features is the new shot mechanism, also known as Advanced Shot Mode.

As the image above shows, the Advanced Shot Mode (ASM) functions pretty much the same way as the traditional method. However, all the visual cues as to when to strike will rely more on you (the player) paying attention to your character’s swing motions.

Step 1: Like previous versions, you’ll have to adjust the direction of where you’d like to ball to go (where it eventually goes… that’s where the next steps play a crucial role).

Step 2: Once you press X your swing will commence. A good tip for first timers is to see the natural trajectory of the golf club… so hit X once and just watch the club as it progresses through from start to finish. One thing that you’ll notice is the club flashing twice (once yellow, once red). Try to remember these points as they’ll come in really handy!

Step 3: This is the point of no return! Start off the swing mechanism and watch the natural progression… and hitting X at any point will stop and start the downswing… this is how you set the power to your stroke, and you have to gauge the strength by the flashing points! Hitting X at the top of the swing (red flash) will set your power at 100%; hitting X at the yellow mark will put enough strength on to get to the cup (if you are close enough)… however, don’t forget to take the elements into consideration: the yellow mark is enough strength under optimal conditions (no wind, no rain, flat course, on the fairway, etc).

Step 4: Now you’ve done it, the club is hurling at an unmentionable speed towards the ball, and the Hot Shots Golf physics engine beings its true-to life calculations, taking account your character’s features (strength, loyalty, etc) as well as the course conditions (wind, ground condition, club, angle, etc)… it’s a digital chorus of 1’s and 0’s… but never mind that… you have to focus.

Once you set the power, you’ll see a white circle slowly contracting to the center of the ball. This is your moment of zen: you must press the X buttons at the precise moment when the ball and the contracting circle are each the same size and complete a virtual circle of life.

Final: The second (millisecond) you’ve strike the ball, the physics engine takes over and applies your timing into the trajectory physics. Here is where you’ll either see the ball fade into the horizon or just have it hit you on the head - - and you’ll know instantly how you did too! There are four icons that will appear at the moment of impact:

• Tortoise: you hit X too late.
• Rabbit: you hit X too early.
• Skull: for whatever (personal) reason you just didn’t press X within the allotted time period aka you got pwned.
• Music note: you hit X at the right moment and the ball is on its way to becoming one with the hole.

That in short is the new Advanced Shot Mechanism. Fans of the traditional method will be able to use that method as well, but if you want to add that extra bit of power (and challenge) ASM is the only way to go. Sure, at first you might get a bunch of animal icons and skulls thrown your way to start up your own pet cemetery… but with enough practice and dedication you’ll be a true Hot Shot champ.

I leave you now with this little gem:

Chris Hinojosa-Miranda on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Title Spotlight, hot shots golf, ps3 | Comments Off -

Superstar publisher Electronic Arts took to the press waves, bringing along its preliminary results of the company's financial performance for fiscal year (FY) 2008. The report highlighted that EA gathered as much as US 1.503 billion as net revenue for the third quarter of FY 2008. On a year-on-year basis, that's a 17 rise from their third quarter rewards of FY 2007.

That, however, didn't help the company with its gross profits, as the quarters numbers the company managed to grab only racked in a total of US 721 million. When compared to the third quarter of FY 2007, EA saw an 11 drop. Net income also isn't doing well. When compared to last year's income of US 160 million, US 33 million in net loss for the third quarter of FY 2008 does cut deep.

Still, the company is proud of its revenue figures. Even EA's CEO, John Riccitiello went on to say, "This was a record revenue quarter for EA and the single biggest revenue quarter for any third party publisher in our industry." He also says despite the move of two crucial games' releases, they are proud of Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)'s success in the market and anticipate the reception of Army of Two and FIFA Street 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, and DS).

Sadly, the two games moved to EA's fiscal year 2009 (April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009) are Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, Xbox 360) and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PS3, Xbox 360, PC). More news in the business of making games as soon as they drop by.

Ceasar S. on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized | Comments Off -

Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the PLAYSTATION Store weekly update.

Add-on Game Content

Folklore Add-On Packs

• Folklore Add-on 5 “Nightmares”($3.99)
  This Folklore download pack includes four additional side quests, which take place during the events of the original game, plus an extra Folk to capture and an alternative costume for Keats.
  File size: 93.8 MB
• Folklore Add-on 6 “Visions of the Tower” ($3.99)
  This Folklore download pack includes four additional side quests, which take place during the events of the original game, plus an extra Folk to capture and an alternative costume for Ellen.
  File size: 76 MB
• Folklore Add-on Bundle 3 ($5.99)
  Get two Folklore Add-ons for one low price! This Folklore Add-on Bundle includes “Nightmares” and the “Visions of the Tower” add-ons. Each add-on includes four side quests, plus an extra Folk to capture and alternative costumes for Ellen and Keats.
  File size: 169.8 MB

Rock Band
Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com.

• “Siva” – Smashing Pumpkins ($1.99)
• “Working Man” - Rush ($1.99)
• “Ten Speed (of God’s Blood…)” – Coheed and Cambria ($1.99)

File sizes: 29.4 MB – 45.8 MB

Demos

Conflict: Denied Ops Demo
Conflict: Denied Ops is a highly accessible co-op FPS featuring massive, extremely explosive firefights across destructible environments. Work as a team to utilize the specific skills of each operative and experience the ultimate in destructive satisfaction with tons of exploding objects and an endless barrage of terrorists who are begging to be blown to hell.
File size: 988 MB
ESRB Rated M

Game Videos

Battlefield: BC Haggard’s Blog (free)
Private Haggard may not be the most charismatic guy, but he sure gets to the point quickly. Catch a glimpse of his heartfelt speech to his family in which he talks about some of his, well, mishaps, from the past.
File size: 98 MB (HD)

Go! Sports Skydiving Trailer (free)
Go! Sports Skydiving is a skydiving simulator that uses the SIXAXIS wireless controller to twist, turn and pull off tricks. The easy and intuitive motion control allows you to move through the skies into various skydiving team formations or solo tricks with the greatest of ease. Supports several single player modes, including formation, team match, landing and several online battle modes.
File size: 109 MB (HD)

Movie and Blu-ray Disc Trailers

Prince Caspian Trailer (free)
The characters of C.S. Lewis’ timeless fantasy come to life once again in this newest installment of the “Chronicles of Narnia” series, in which the Pevensie siblings are magically transported back from England to the world of Narnia, where a thrilling, perilous new adventure and an even greater test of their faith and courage awaits them.
File size: 153 MB (HD), 204 MB (1080)

Prom Night Trailer (free)
Donna’s senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life. After surviving a horrible tragedy, she has finally moved on and is enjoying her last year of high school. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be safe from the horrors of her past. But when the night turns deadly, there is only one person who could be responsible…a man she thought was gone forever.
File size: 27 MB (SD), 99 MB (HD), 131 MB (1080)

Across the Universe Trailer
The enduring songs of The Beatles, set the tone for Across The Universe, a love story about a British boy and an American girl set against the backdrop of the social upheaval of the 1960s. The stirring music of the Fab Four will drive the narrative, with the actors singing and dancing to the classic tunes.
File size: 122 MB (HD), 156 MB (1080)

Daddy Day Camp Trailer
DADDY DAY CARE pals Charlie and Phil are back in this hilarious, all-new adventure: DADDY DAY CAMP! When the dads expand their childcare magic to Camp Driftwood - serving up sports, crafts and teaching the kids a thing or two about nature, they discover the camp has everything it needs except a plan to put the bullies of rival Camp Canola to shame.
File size: 90 MB (HD), 120 MB (1080)

PS3 Themes

PixelJunk Monsters Theme 2 (free)
Customize your PS3 system with a cool PixelJunk Monsters theme. This theme allows you to change up the look of your background and XMB icons.
File size: 710 KB

PS3 Wallpaper

(2) PixelJunk Monsters Wallpaper (free)
Customize the background of your PS3 system with this new PixelJunk Monsters Wallpaper.
File sizes: 143 KB - 551 KB

Here is this week’s content release for the PLAYSTATION Store for PC. To download these games to your PSP, navigate to http://store.playstation.com. There, you’ll find descriptions of the content and directions on how to get started. For more on the PLAYSTATION Store for PC, please click here.

Downloadable Games

• Neopets: Petpet Adventures - The Wand of Wishing ($15.99)

PSP Wallpaper (free)

• Neopets: Petpet Adventures - The Wand of Wishing Wallpaper

Hope you enjoy!

Grace Chen on January 31st, 2008 | File Under PlayStation Network, psn | Comments Off -

Well, the votes are in and the ballots have been tallied, so to speak. The judges of the Game Critics Awards have finally announced their list of the best games for the year 2007, with 2K Games' BioShock (PC, Xbox 360) grabbing the top spot as the Game of the Year.

The ranking was based on a points system based on the score from each judge based on their own top 10 list of games. The total for each nominated game was then calculated to generate the ten highest scoring games.

Here's the list of the top 10 games based on the results:

Top 10 Games of 2007

1. BioShock (464 points)
2. The Orange Box (387 points)
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (361 points)
4. Rock Band (349 points)
5. Super Mario Galaxy (323 points)
6. Halo 3 (232 points)
7. Mass Effect (213 points)
8. God of War II (103 points)
9. Assassin's Creed (88 points)
10. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (87 points)

You can also take a look at the breakdown of each of the top games by platform and by publisher below:

Game of the Year breakdown by platform

• Xbox 360: 7
• PlayStation 3: 5
• PC: 3
• Wii:  1
• PlayStation 2: 1

Game of the Year breakdown by publisher

• Microsoft Game Studios: 2
• Sony Computer Entertainment: 2
• EAP (Valve, MTV Games/Harmonix): 2
• 2K Games: 1
• Activision: 1
• Nintendo: 1
• Ubisoft: 1

If you want to take a look at the specific votes cast by each judge, you can visit the official Game Critics Awards website, accessible through the Via link below.

Charles D. on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized | Comments Off -

Valve Corporation spokesman Doug Lombardi has announced that the company plans to further expand on Portal. In addition, he also gave word of more Team Fortress 2 maps for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the future.

Lombardi said in no uncertain terms that they plan on releasing more updates for Portal in the future. However, he did add that they're still working out the details on that particular project. That's pretty good news for fans of the game everywhere.

Console gamers have another reason to rejoice. Lombardi mentioned that Valve plans on releasing map packs for Team Fortress 2 on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The awesome thing about this is that the new content will be going for the low, low price of US 0.00. Yes, they're going to be releasing them for free.

So it looks like fans of Valve's Portal and Team Fortress 2 have a lot to look forward to. In case you want to see the full interview where all these details were revealed, feel free to follow the Source link below.

Enrico S. on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized | Comments Off -

 

GSC Game World has granted the worldwide publishing rights for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky to Koch Media. Under the terms of the contract all regions around the world are covered except the territories Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The deal states that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will be published by the games labels Deep Silver and GSC World Publishing. Koch Media's Managing Director Craig McNicol commented on this new deal:

The unique atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. caused a sensation among gamers, while the sales have demonstrated the brand's enormous potential. We are delighted with this chance to publish the prequel together with GSC under the Deep Silver label.

Now that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky has a publisher, we can expect it to hit the stands pretty soon. While waiting, you might want to check out some of these screenshots of the expansion below. Enjoy!

 

Enrico S. on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized | Comments Off -

The organizers of this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC) have given word that all the tutorial, lecture, and panel classrooms at the event will be equipped with "super fancy HD projectors."

According to the announcement. these projectors are expected to provide more detailed and brighter images. These projectors combined with the Audio Track classroom's Dolby 5.1 surround sound system should be a treat for those who plan on attending this year's event.

The Game Developers Conference 2008 will take place on February 18-22 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Among the speakers which have confirmed their attendance include none other than renowned inventor and author Ray Kurzweil as well as Corporate Vice President of LIVE Joseph Schappert.

Enrico S. on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized | Comments Off -

The ties between anime and video games have always been strong. Case in point is Capcom's Devil May Cry series and its successful animated series following. However, ADV, the publisher of the animated series, has recently announced that it will be pulling out any future plans to continue the release of the title, as well as 36 other animated series.

The company has been in a recent bind with some of its Japanese investors, which explains the reason behind its pull out. These include licenses bought through companies like the ARM Corporation, Sojitz Corporation, the Development Band of Japan and KlockWorx.

A letter sent from ADV to its retailers explains the suspension of its numerous titles:

ADV has suspended certain elements of its former alliance with ARM Corporation, which financed the acquisition of these titles. ADV is working closely with various constituencies with the goal of restoring most if not all of these properties to our release schedule at a later date to the extent possible.

Two weeks ago, ADV had announced that it will be pulling out its support from its industry leading collection of anime clubs, as well as its publication of Newtype USA.

However, the company still has assets tied into its previously released anime titles, as well as its extensive manga publishing program. Hopefully, this may still spell good news for fans of Devil May Cry: The Animated Series who want to complete the entire set sometime in the future.

Charles D. on January 31st, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized | Comments Off -