inFamous: Second Son

inFamous: Second Son takes place 7 years after the “Cole McGrath episodes” and stars newcomer Delsin Rowe as he tries to evade the DUP in Seattle. That much we know.
What we haven’t heard is anything to do with Cole and him possibly appearing in the sequel (I won’t spoil anything to do with inFamous 2). Lucky for us, Michael McClain, QA Manager and Forum Moderator at Sucker Punch, gave out some juicy piece of news about Second Son in the forums.
Replying to a question that simply asked where Cole was, Michael gave this response:

Second Son is an original storyline in the inFamous universe, featuring an all new lead protagonist, Delsin Rowe, with a new origin story. Cole MacGrath’s legacy from the first two inFamous titles ultimately concluded following the final events of inFamous 2 and he will not be returning. The inFamous universe holds so many interesting storylines and characters that we wanted to explore a new story arc for the franchise. 

When asked why continue the inFamous franchise without Cole, and not just create a new IP, Michael said the following:

The inFamous universe holds so many interesting characters that we wanted to explore a new storyline and hero, while still staying rooted in the open world that the franchise is known for. Second Son is a brand new storyline, but does take place several years following the concluding events of inFamous 2. 
The core of that universe is rooted in the idea of an ordinary person getting super powers and deciding how to use them. That’s the inFamous universe that we’re all so excited to share with you.

Then, in another post, he talked about Delsin’s powers:

As you saw from the trailer, Delsin will have smoke powers in Second Son but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. He’s capable of so much more than you saw in the announce trailer…

As for why Second Son takes place in Seattle? It’s pretty simple:

As Sucker Punch is based right outside of Seattle, and many of us have lived there our entire lives, we wanted to pay homage to our hometown and backyard. The city of Seattle has a unique personality all of its own and we wanted to capture that in Second Son. Seattle is a realistic city and not just some generic non-descript location, so we’re also to bring a whole new level of realism to the storyline, rooting it in a location that players can relate to in the real world.

Is the lack of Cole a deal breaker for you? Or are you just happy that they’re making another inFamous game? Let us know in the comments below.

Hohokum - by artist Richard Hogg

It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce Hohokum as a Sony Santa Monica project, coming to PS4, PS3 and PS Vita in 2014!
Hohokum is a collaboration between artist Richard Hogg and Honeyslug, a London-based game studio. It is a whimsical colorful game with an emphasis on playful exploration and creativity. You take on the role of a curious flying snake-like character. A technicolor, calligraphic, worm-like, kite-like being! The way you move around the world is very expressive and kinetic and kind of mesmerizing to play.


One of the main aims for Hohokum is to create something where the usual pressures of videogames – constantly being told to do things, fearing failure and being challenged to earn progress – were all absent. This is quite a challenge, but we’re really excited about how it’s coming together. There are goals and secrets to discover. There are even Trophies. But at its heart Hohokum is a playground, a place to wander about, perhaps even lose yourself in.
It is kind of awesome to be able to finally say that. We have been working away on the game for the last year, maintaining strict radio silence. Before that we had a Hohokum-sabbatical in order to make Frobisher Says for PS Vita. So it has been around two years since the public saw anything of Hohokum that was when it was an IGF finalist and then followed by Indiecade.

But now the cat is out of the bag! I guess it was in the summer of 2011 at Indiecade that our involvement with Santa Monica Studio began. We have come quite a long way since then and they are still the perfect fit to be working with on this game.
We can’t wait to show people all the new additions in Hohokum at E3.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Bethesda has announced Wolfenstein: The New Order for PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and next-gen systems during Q4 2013.



The FPS is set during Europe during 1960, in a timeline in which the Nazis won World War 2, and B.J. Blazkowicz is instructed to launch a counter-offensive against the evil doers.

Players will enter Nazi strongholds, battle enemies, control “super weapons” in which the suited foes use to “dominate earth and beyond.”

“We are excited to bring a new chapter of Wolfenstein to gamers everywhere,” said Jens Matthies, creative director at MachineGames in the press release. “As fans of the series, working on this game is an honor, and our team is driven to create an unforgettable action-adventure experience that will make FPS fans proud.”

Gamespot will have exclusive news of the game posted everyday this week and the announcement trailer is through the link.

COUNTERSPY

SCE Foster City Studio has a history of collaborating with Sony's first-party developers on triple-A franchises like Uncharted, Infamous, and Resistance. Now the studio is expanding into the downloadable space, teaming up with indie developers to help bring unique and innovative projects to Sony's platforms. The first of these games that Foster City Studio shared with us is Counterspy, a 2D cover-based shooter set during the Cold War.
Counterspy puts players in control of their own spy agency, which has been tasked with keeping the U.S. and USSR from engaging in all-out warfare; the Doomsday Clock provides players with a constant reminder of how close they are to nuclear Armageddon. Luckily, players can roll back the clock by completing missions, which take place in procedurally generated levels, featuring different routes, items, and enemy configurations every time you play. However, missions play out in real-time, so those extra few minutes you send searching for items and upgrades bring you that much closer to certain death. The early demo we saw featured a mix of stealth and action, with the player able to sneak up and assassinate enemies from behind, or hide behind cover to pick off guards with a few well-placed pistol shots.
Counterspy also features an asynchronous multiplayer mode, which allows players to compete on the same level configurations. If your friends are killed in a level, their loss is your gain; if you can make it to their corpse, you can steal their items.
Counterspy is currently slated for a 2013 release on PlayStation 3, Vita, and mobile platforms. To learn more about the game we talked with Dynamighty co-founder and lead game designer David Nottingham.
Tell us a little bit about Dynamighty. Who do you have on your team and why did you decide to start a small, independent studio?
The studio was founded by John Elliot and myself. We had previously worked together at LucasArts where we ran a little group called LucasLabs, creating small passion projects such as the Monkey Island Special Edition project and a little-known game called Lucidity. We managed to convince our friend Mark Erman to join us, and then rounded out the core team with Mark Holmes, who joined us from Pixar where he had worked on movies such as The Incredibles and Wall-E.
The question of “why” is probably a separate interview unto itself! The short version is that we love games and we enjoy working together. We wanted to keep building on the experience we had had with LucasLabs, which was such a fun, creative time, so we made the decision to jump in and go for it. This is an exciting time for game developers. There’s a diversity of game content and different creative voices blossoming and we feel compelled to be a part of that. This year has been crazy, challenging, and awesome as things have really started to pick up momentum. We now have 10 people in the studio – all awesome, talented, and a really tight-knit bunch. A bit too tight knit; we are still jammed into a space that the original four of us had occupied for the previous year! We are really looking forward to moving into our own space soon.
Counterspy is based on the spy mythology of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Could you describe the tone of the game? Are you going for serious spy drama, tongue-in-cheek humor, or something in between? What inspiration are you drawing from?
This is something that went through a lot of iterations as we were exploring the world we wanted to create. Mark Holmes and I both have a real passion for this aspect of the process, as it's a deep part of the creative culture at both LucasArts & Pixar.
Early Bond films are an obvious inspiration but we were originally going a lot darker, riffing off the more somber cold war espionage fiction of the ‘50s & ‘60s such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Funeral in Berlin, the latter of which is a great movie directed by Guy Hamilton, who also directed Goldfinger.
What happened was, the more we went down that path, the more we realized that we wanted to present something more playful and fun. We had all these ideas for the game that we wanted to include that were bumping up against this darker tone. Also, we really wanted to make the world have a bold and vibrant visual style that popped. We’d initially resisted this direction because we didn’t want to create a world that was lampooning the source material, which Austin Powers did such a great job of. We’d also been a little reticent because Mark had already trod similar territory in his work on The Incredibles, plus we were both inspired and intimidated by the amazing Yuki-7 series of shorts from artist Kevin Dart. We didn’t want to simply tread in someone else's shoes. We wanted to establish our own voice for the game.
Once we started exploring, however, we rediscovered points of inspiration from the source ‘50s/‘60s era that were more playful yet had that edge that we still wanted. We looked to TV shows like The Prisoner and the dry satire of the Dr. Strangelove movie to help guide us. 
Where we ended up is with something that we feel comes across in our own voice, that takes what can be a potentially quite dark subject matter and delivers it in a bright, brash, satirical, and hopefully playful fashion.
Counterspy features procedurally generated levels. Are there multiple level types, or do they all fall under the same theme? How do levels change from one mission to the next?
Oh man, this is a tough one. You’re talking to us right in the midst of development when there are still so many moving pieces! We love well-done procedural based games like Derek Yu’s awesome Spelunky, and it’s an element we’re trying to capture in a new and interesting way.
Currently, the plan is to offer a mix of Western- and Soviet-based levels that are crafted by us, and also a procedural mode that would present a more “endless” game experience where the player is racing against a countdown.
In terms of the themes of levels, we have a story that is half arms race, half twisted space race. The Cold War superpowers are racing against each other to develop a new, deadly rocket, and the player will be raiding launch sites for each side to prevent missile launches as well as commit widespread acts of sabotage.
Counterspy puts player in charge of their own spy agency to stave off war between the US and USSR. Are there any management/strategy elements involved with running your agency? What will players be doing between missions?
We are super focused on the core moment-to-moment missions themselves. In addition to playing the missions, the player will be collecting blueprints & dossiers, which will give them access to new weapons and secret contacts that can help the player in different ways.
In the presentation we saw, it mentioned that Counterspy will have some roguelike elements. Could you describe these elements a bit?
I’d say we will tread very lightly with any rogue-like elements. That said, I was totally obsessed with FTL for a while, and Spelunky definitely shaped some of the ways we are approaching the difficulty curve of the game. We’d love to expand a bit more on this, but it’s definitely an aspect of the game development that is still in motion.


One of Dynamighty’s goals is for Counterspy to be highly replayable. How are you accomplishing this?
Obviously the procedural element is a big one for replayability. We also have secret locations in the game that can only be accessed with unique access codes that you get by gathering dossiers and then putting the squeeze on contacts.
We also have competitive social elements planned around how you compete with friends that go beyond just chasing your buddy’s high score. We believe this will make things a bit more dynamic during the actual gameplay. Apologies for the ambiguity! We don’t mean to be secretive, though that wouldn’t be unintuitive given the nature of the game. It’s just that at this stage in development, there are still some aspects that we need to try different variants of to see what works. We’ll definitely be less obtuse closer to launch!
A mobile version of Counterspy is also planned. How will this version compare to the console version? How do the different versions interact with one another?
The mobile version is something that we are really excited about. We didn’t want to approach this as just a companion app for the main game but rather to make sure it delivers a full game experience that both connects with and supplements the progress you make on PlayStation. 
On mobile, you play a field operative that has more limited access to the resources of the Agency, experiencing a subset of the same levels that you play on PlayStation. You’ll still collect blueprints and dossiers though, and you will be able to combine the progress you are making across all the platforms. If you sync your mobile game with Vita or PlayStation 3, you’ll be able to share some of the cool exclusive PlayStation content, such as unique spy weapons, with your mobile “field operative.”
What made you choose to work with Sony on Counterspy? Who approached who?
It’s funny, when we started thinking about setting up Dynamighty, John and I both talked about how Sony would be our ideal publishing partner. When we would talk about the type of games we loved, so many of them came about because of Sony support or funding. Whether it’s Journey, The Unfinished Swan, Uncharted, or the PixelJunk series, they’ve always been a home for artistically interesting games that aren’t afraid to take bold risks. That doesn’t happen consistently by accident.
For some reason we had ended up talking to a number of publishing partners but not Sony. They reached out to us and when we went in and pitched our vision it really just clicked. They instantly got what we were trying to do and it kind of all fell into place after that.
What’s it been like working with Foster City Studio? Can you describe the collaboration process?
Man, this is going to sound like me blowing smoke, but I have to say, working with Foster City has been awesome! It’s clear Sony is making a big effort to reach out and empower the smaller independent developers and make PlayStation a good home for them. From our perspective, they’ve definitely been walking the walk. Front and center, they have been supportive of the game being our vision and their role is to support us in realizing it. 
Creatively, they’ve given us the room to let the development process really breathe. One of the maxims of game development is that it’s kind of like a river current: You set out with a destination in mind but you have to be prepared to also let the currents take you where they need to go, creatively. That can often make publishers nervous because they are looking for predictable results which can mean committing to feature lists and content plans at the beginning of a project when it’s still largely a list of speculative dreams. With Sony, it’s been a very trusting, open relationship from both sides. This has allowed us the flexibility to make decisions in service of what’s best for the game, even if that means we take a left turn at a fork when originally we thought we’d take a right. Sony just “gets” game development and I think this is one of the X factors that make them so great and why the games that they publish are so consistently high quality.
Is there anything else our readers should know about Counterspy?
Just that a team of really passionate people are putting their heart and soul into this thing because it’s something we love. You can see bits and pieces of us in action at our Dynamighty Facebook page, and we’ll be posting our progress on the project through Dynamighty Tumblr.

Fairy Fencer F

Compile Heart’s first game under its new Galapagos RPG brand is Fairy Fencer F for PlayStation 3, the latest issue of Famitsu reveals.

Due out this year in Japan, the game is developed by the same team that brought you the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, features artwork from Yoshitaka Amano, and music from the Earthbound Papas.

Three characters have been revealed so far: Tiara (voiced by Kaori Ishihara), Fang (voiced by Ryota Oosaka), and Arin (voiced by Rumi Ookubo).

Driveclub

After announced the new Playstation 4, Mercedes-Benz dropped an image of the CLA45 AMG that will feature in a new driving game. 
Coinciding with Sony’s formal announcement of the Playstation 4 at a special event in New York, Mercedes-Benz revealed that both the A45 AMG and CLA45 AMG would feature in Driveclub, a brand-new racing game for the console. While the high-performance A-Class has already been introduced, this is the first image, albeit a digital one, of the Affalterbach-molested CLA without wearing any camo



Predictably, it looks a lot like the recently unveiled CLA250 save for a dual exhaust, trunk-mounted spoiler and five-spoke alloys. And we’ll only have to wait another few weeks before the car is finally introduced at the New York Auto Show where it will make its world premiere, before hitting US showrooms later in the year. 

Saints Row 4

Saints Row 4 has received an August 20 release date, publisher Deep Silver has just announced. We are told that Saints Row 4 is not simply the Saints Row 3 "Enter the Dominatrix" standalone expansion in a different wrapper.

"That expansion was canceled and elements of it were rolled into Saints Row 4," a spokesperson for publisher Deep Silver tells Joystiq. "There will be a director's cut of Enter the Dominatrix released as DLC when SR4 comes out."

Saints Row 4 is being developed by Volition, which Deep Silver picked up along with the Saints Row IP during the THQ auction, and will launch August 20 in North America and August 23 everywhere else. The game is being developed for PC and "current-gen consoles," in follow-up we clarified that does not include Wii U.

GRID 2

GRID 2 releasing 2013, new trailer & screens revealed

GRID 2 has received an official announcement following along with a new video and debut screens. Codemasters has confirmed the game will also be playable at Eurogamer Expo 2012.

Codemasters revealed some key information on the game, and confirmed that both Chicago and Paris will be race locations.

The fashback rewind time feature will return along with new and improved damage and physics courtesy of Codemasters’ EGO engine.

“GRID’s back and we’re going to make street, track and road racing exciting again,” said Clive Moody, Executive Producer. “The core design philosophy for GRID 2 is that we treat the race as a character, not a consequence of simply putting cars on tracks. Everything that goes into the game impacts on that second-to-second, in the moment, blockbuster drama – the feel and personality of the race.”

“We’re pushing boundaries once again with what can be accomplished in the genre via new tools, technology and innovations. In single-player, split-screen and online, the next-generation of the EGO Game Technology Platform will power graphics, AI, handling and damage advancements that will immerse players in the racing experience like never before.”

“Like its predecessor, GRID 2 will put the sheer thrill and adrenaline rush of the race at the heart of the experience. It’s what we call Total Race Day Immersion” Moody concluded.

Excited yet?

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut

Amazon outs Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut for Wii U
March 19th, 2013 Posted in News, Posted by Valay, Wii U

Square Enix’s PAX East “surprise” has been spoiled early.

A listing on Amazon has finally confirmed that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is coming to Wii U. The new “Director’s Cut” version is due out in May for Wii U.

Amazon lists the following features for the game:

1.Ultimate Deus Ex: Human Revolution experience : take advantage of a multitude of improvements, features and additional content that bring this already critically-acclaimed adventure towhole new levels

2.Tap into the Wii U's GamePad true potential: Adam Jensen?s newest augmentation, the Neural Hub, offers an immersive and empowering experience, right at the tips of your fingers

3.Absolute fusion of action and role-play: A unique combination of action-packed close-quarter takedowns and intense shooting, offering a vast array of augmentations and upgrades for the many weapons at your disposal

4.Multi-solution structure: Choose how to accomplish each mission using combat, hacking, stealth or social mode to create a customized experience to suit any gaming style

5.Diverse customization: Engage in combat and challenges utilizing deep, specialized character augmentations and weapon upgrades

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut launches on May 7 for $49.99.

Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman Arkham Origins has just been announced for PC, Wii U, PS3 and Xbox 360! Set several years before the previous chapters in the series, the story will put you in the shoes of a younger Batman. Players will meet many of the franchise’s most important characters for the first time and even develop important relationships with them.

Alongside the main game, a spinoff title called Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will be available for 3DS and Vita platforms. Both games will be available on October 25th of this year,00 and will be developed by WB Games Montreal, rather than series creator Rocksteady. Stay tuned to Gamefocus for more details on the game!

Remember Me

Remember Me: Capcom announces new IP from Dontnod Entertainment

Capcom has announced a new IP developed by French developer Dontnod called Remember Me. It is the same game that many sites were dubbed ‘Rain’ in a recent Sony trademark filing.

Codenamed ‘Adrift’ at Gamescom 2011, Remember Me focuses on the subject of memores that can be bought and sold, which has given rise to a black market.

The main character is a female called Nilin, and was seen running around Neo-Paris in 2084, as seen in a reveal trailer shown by Capcom, as she engages enemies in fist fights, climbs the architecture and more.

People are all implanted with Sensation Engines – or Sen-Sen – that capture memories that can be traded or exchanged freely online. The company that manufactures the Sen-Sen is called Memoryeyes, a corporation that controls the flow of memories.

The Errorists are a group of rebels fighting against Memoreyes. The main chararter is gifted and can access memories at will, and change them as she sees fit. Her employer Edge leads the group.

It’s the same gameplay footage that was rumoured to be part of a Sony trademark filing last week.

Dontnod shows off some gameplay as well, starting with a rainy Neo-Paris backdrop and the Memoreyes HQ. Nilin is seen walking up to the entrance casually, and finds she can’t break in as the building is locked down. She radios Edge for another plan.

Nilin is confronted by a huge aircraft which opens fire. Nilin runs off and climbs along the side of buildings Uncharted-style, but the aircraft keeps on hounding her. She finds herself trapped in a metallic halway, forced in by the gunfire.

She can also hack doors from a safe distance to block out the aircraft’s gunfire, as well as unlocking bared doors in an instant using her Sen-Sen implant. Running into a shopping precinct, ilin is confronted by troops on foot.

Nilin then then unloads on them with a barrage of punches and kicks that ape Batman: Arkham City’s fluid combat, before using a Memory Unload finisher on them when stunned to frazzle their brains. More guard appear, and Nilin uses her Sen-Sen to evaporate their holographic riot shields.

In the bottom left corner of the HUD is a ability radial on L2 – signifying that this is a PS3 build – that has a move called Logic Bomb and a Sensory Overload, which is ground pound attack that vegetates enemies in a nearby radius.

With the goons evaded, Nilin finds herself in stealth mode on a dark rooftop, with the aircraft back and hovering menacingly overhead. Nilin hides in the shadows and finds her chance to strike, latching onto the underside of the craft and punching through the windshield, frying the controls, which causes the ship to lose control.

Nilin has a unique power called the Memory Remix that allows her to change people’s memories. In Capcom’s second gameplay presentation, she has been sent to remix the memories of the Memoreye’s security captian, Frank Forlan.

Walking the streets, Nilin can scan for specific people. She finds Forlan in his office trying to call his wife to come meet him, but she isn’t answering, causing him to get angry. Nilin then jacks into Forlan’s memories and then plants a fake memory in his mind in which they broke up earlier that day.

The player sees the memory play out in a cut-scene, in which Forlan and his wife squabble before she starts to walk out on him. You can then pause the clip, pan back and remix the memory further, changing elements. The player makes Frank think that he got angry and tried to shoot his wife.

You can choose to have Forlan keep the safety on and just threaten her, or make him think he took the safety off and actually shot her. Once Nilin dives out of Forlan, he genuinely believes he murdered his wife hours earlier, causing him to blow his own brains out in regret. Very smart.

The demo then ends. It looks great, sort of a hybrid between Uncharted and Deus Ex or even Syndicate in terms of hacking options.

We can now confirm that Remember Me Game will be released on June 4 (US) / June 7 (Europe).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Activision and Redfly's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, will release on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network this summer.

Out of the Shadows is a four-player online co-op brawler with a "skill-based combat system built around combo-driven action." That could mean anything, but the concept is nice, especially after the Turtles in Time remake proved that simplistic combat doesn't do the trick anymore.

Disney Infinity

Disney Infinity is an upcoming video game from Disney Interactive Studios to be released on August 18, 2013 in North America and August 20, 2013 in Europe. Similar to Skylanders, the game uses collectible figurines that are then synthesized within the game, allowing for characters from Disney and Pixar properties to interact and go on adventures.

There are two main modes in this game, Play Set and Toy Box.^[4] Each play set is essentially a self-contained world with its own gameplay, based on a specific movie or series with recognizable characters and storylines. Characters from one world cannot enter into another world, but players can put any character together in Toy Box mode. Toy Box is a sandbox mode that players can fully customize and explore.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was presented and it’s coming to Playstation 3, Xbox 360, WiiU an PC, featuring 60 minutes of exclusive gameplay to the PS3 version (that also happened with AC: Brotherhood and AC3 on this system).

‘Black Flag’ tell us enough about the scenario of this new entry on the AC world: Battle ships and Pirates!!



Many rumors point to a set on 1715 and Connor’s grandfather (or even father) as the main character. Monday at 5pm GMT we will know more details about this killer-pirates.

But that’s not all. As we titled, Ubi holds a surprise regarding the franchise. We can confirm there’s another game in development that has not been announced. Weird thing is ‘Black Flag” not coming for Playstation 4 and Durango [they updated the article to add a (for the moment) here] so… could we see that rumored WWII scenario coming true at next gen systems this year? Nah, too hasty. Bet for a Vita one in 2013

We’ll have to wait a little more, but this year we’ll see two AC games, that’s for sure.

Watch Dogs

Ubisoft has confirmed that the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of Watch Dogs will receive 60 minutes of exclusive content.

Watch Dogs will be available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC in North America on November 19 and in Europe on November 22.

Additionally, the company has revealed that the open-world action-adventure game will be available as launch title for the PlayStation 4, and is "also planned for other next-generation consoles". That'll be the next Xbox, then.

BEYOND: Two Souls

New details concerning Sony and Quantic Dream’s upcoming PS3 exclusive, “Beyond: Two Souls,” were revealed on April 27 during the Tribeca Film Festival.
Quantic Dream’s David Cage revealed details regarding the game’s length and how long the game experience will last for players.
In addition to these new details, a new trailer for “Beyond: Two Souls” was released by Sony Computer Entertainment – you can watch the all-new trailer in our video gallery here.
While speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival, David Cage shared that “Beyond: Two Souls” will take players 10-hours to complete -- this is roughly the same as his previous PS3 exclusive, “Heavy Rain.”
Of course, the game does have multiple endings and will encourage multiple playthroughs to see the complete story and all possible outcomes.


Just as “Heavy Rain” did, Cage aims to deliver an emotional interactive movie/video game experience with “Beyond: Two Souls.” 
As you’ll see in the new trailer, the visuals of “Beyond: Two Souls” are impressive and rank among the best the PlayStation 3 has produced to date.
“Beyond: Two Souls” will release for PS3 on Oct. 8.

Dragon’s Crown

Dragon’s Crown has had a long development process – especially for those of you who remember E3 2011 when Ignition first mentioned the game. But now Atlus and Odin Sphere developer Vanillaware are putting a stake in the ground for August 6th, 2013. If you’re not familiar with Dragon’s Crown, it’s a 2D multiplayer action beat-em-up exclusive to the PS3 and PS Vita that features four-person co-op play, six character classes, skills that can be leveled up, and all the dungeon-exploring, orc-slapping, treasure-seeking action you can shake a magical staff at. If you’re not familiar with the date August 6th, please consult a calendar.
  
One of the reasons development took so long is the painstaking detail that makes every character, background or combat animation worthy of the artistic vision of Vanillaware. The intricacies in the artwork are immediately noticeable on both the PS3 and PS Vita versions. Speaking of, we’re working right now on making sure that gamers can take their saved games with them on the Vita. So while Vita adventurers can’t party up with PlayStation dungeoneers, it doesn’t mean they have to stop leveling and looting if they have to leave the living room.

  
The other thing that’s immediately noticeable about Dragon’s Crown are the fantastical player characters. The Amazon, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Sorceress and Wizard all exude extreme character designs to emphasize their powerfulness. The outlandish character design stands out from the hordes of goblins, orcs, myconids (evil, sentient mushrooms), and other dangerous creatures that populate the world of Hydeland. Oh, and in case you were wondering: yes, you can fight dragons in it.

Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection

                                              

KONAMI ANNOUNCES METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION AVAILABLE JUNE 2013

KONAMI Celebrates METAL GEAR SOLID's 25th Anniversary with Ultimate Line-Up of Fan Favorites in one PlayStation®3 Package


EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – April. 22, 2013 – Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced it will release METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION in North America and South America in June 2013.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the METAL GEAR SOLID franchise, this PlayStation®3 exclusive package will include METAL GEAR SOLID, METAL GEAR SOLID 2: HD Edition, METAL GEAR SOLID 3: HD Edition (which includes the original MSX versions of METAL GEAR and METAL GEAR 2), METAL GEAR SOLID: Peace Walker HD Edition, METAL GEAR SOLID: VR MISSIONS and METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Trophy Edition. In addition, the collection will also include two Ashley Wood digital graphic novels.

"We wanted to give METAL GEAR SOLID fans the opportunity to experience the series from beginning to end, all on one console," said Tomoyuki Tsuboi, President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "With the collection's multiple titles, players can truly see how METAL GEAR SOLID evolved into the critically acclaimed and beloved franchise it is today."

The METAL GEAR SOLID series is the seminal work of Hideo Kojima, Japan's master game creator, and the progenitor of the stealth action game genre. With more than 33 million units sold to date, the METAL GEAR series has become a global phenomenon. The player controls a secret agent from an elite special forces unit who is sent on solo stealth missions through enemy installations, vast jungles, and sometimes even the thick of battle. Alone and surrounded by the enemy, even a special forces agent will find it tough to come out alive. But that is the secret behind the series' popularity-the cerebral challenge of figuring out how to avoid combat, and the thrill of sneaking through enemy territory undetected.

Along with the gameplay, the METAL GEAR SOLID series is also known for its storyline, which blends seamlessly with the gameplay. The scenarios are based on extensive research and incorporate the drama of actual developments in society. These elements have made METAL GEAR SOLID what it is today: a mature work of entertainment that transcends national borders and the confines of video games, and one of the leading products of the Japanese content business.