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Deadly Premonition gets 352-page companion app for iPad
Deadly Premonition received a companion iBooks app for iPad this week, Rising Star Games announced. Priced at $9.99, the Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut The Official Visual Companion is 352 pages long with over a hundred "interactive elements." The book offers players the chance to peek into the creative notebook of director Hidetaka Suehiro (also known as Swery65) to learn more about the development of this odd cult favorite. The interactive book includes three maps and concept art for the game as well as a soundboard and soundtrack. It arrives ahead of the Steam launch of Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut, which is set for Halloween.
El Shaddai director's new studio acquires IP from Ignition
The El Shaddai intellectual property (IP) changed hands today from original publisher UTV Ignition to Crim, a Tokyo-based studio where the game's director, Sawaki Takeyasu, is based now. As 4Gamer reports, Ignition confirmed the transfer of all El Shaddai derivative rights, including any prequels and sequels. Ignition, however, retains the rights to sell the original 2011 game. UTV Ignition was acquired by Disney in 2012, with Atlus picking up Dragon's Crown from Ignition shortly after. The news paves the way for a follow-up to the eccentric Xbox 360 and PS3 action game - interestingly, Crim is hosting an event in Tokyo on August 12 to celebrate the acquisition. Ignition and Crim did release El Shaddai: Social Battle in April 2012, but the smartphone social game ended its service just a few months later. Its lasting memory is this suitably bizarre teaser trailer.
Dragon's Crown trailers speak English, not that it matters
These new trailers for Dragon's Crown's Fighter and Sorceress classes are in English, which is a change from the predominantly Japanese footage we've seen so far, but honestly trailers for this game could be in Esperanto and you'd still be able to get the gist of what's going down: Skeleton murder.
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut trailer questions everything
Do you even know what's in your coffee? Is that even coffee in your cup?
Magical Drop V magically drops on PC November 15
You've waited forever for a new Magical Drop game, and Ignition Entertainment and developer Golgoth Studio will finally deliver. Magical Drop V will be released on Steam for PC on November 15.As we discovered to our surprise and delight last E3, Magical Drop V is not just a new game in the Data East color-matching puzzle series, it also contains the characters and gameplay from another unreleased puzzler, Ghostlop. Players can choose to play either game, even facing off in multiplayer across two different games.
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut arrives on PS3 in Q1 2013 [update: Move confirmed]
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut is pulling into PlayStation 3 in the first quarter of 2013 for North America and Europe, Rising Star Games announced. The enhanced re-release includes new content, and will receive new downloadable content. It also features a high definition face-lift and reworked controls.Deadly Premonition creator SWERY65 announced the remastered PS3 edition of his 2010 cult favorite back in March, telling us it would feature new content and Move controls. The press release from Rising Star makes no mention of Move, so we've reached out to the publisher for confirmation.Update: Rising Star confirmed to us Move support is still planned.
Dragon's Crown has not been canceled
Vanillaware's lushly illustrated 2D action game for PS3 and Vita, Dragon's Crown, was originally given a Spring 2012 release date. Rumors have since popped up about the game's cancellation -- mostly due to Amazon cancelling pre-orders. Illustrator Shigatake responded to the rumors on Twitter, letting us know that we can still expect our ogre-destroying action and bodice-straining sorceresses."I personally can't say much," Shigatake said (as translated by Andriasang), "but I'll just say, 'Regarding Dragon's Crown, although there are lots of rumors and conjecture, it's still in development. Please wait patiently for an official update.'"We have our own inquiry in with publisher Ignition, and will update you when we get an "official update."
Magical Drop V due this summer
It's been a while since we heard about Magical Drop V, the new entry in Data East's venerable puzzle series, which contains another Data East puzzle game, Ghostlop, within it. In fact, it's been since E3 of last year. So we contacted publisher Ignition to make sure it was still happening, and if so, when.An Ignition representative told us that the puzzle game is now due this summer. There is as yet no update on platforms, so until we hear differently it's still PC first, and unspecified consoles after.
Ignition teaser site hints at new El Shaddai title
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron was one of the prettiest and most uniquely original games we played last year, and we'd be lying if we said we weren't itching to get another glimpse into Ignition's surreal world of pseudo-Judeo-Christian mythology and fashionable jeans.We weren't expecting that itch to ever get scratched, if we're honest, considering how weird El Shaddai is and everything, but it looks like Ignition has more in the pipeline. A teaser site has launched showcasing concept art for five new characters, two of which bear a striking (albeit distinctly female) resemblance to Lucifel and Enoch from the first game.The text in front of the concept art roughly translates to "Who is the ultimate angel who God speaks of?" according to Andriasang. The site's URL, www.elshaddai-sb.jp, may also contain clues, specifically that "sb" may be the initials of this thing's subtitle, whatever it is. We'll keep an eye our for more details, but right now our money is on a fighting game: El Shaddai: Super Battle, El Shaddai: Seraphim Battalion, something along those lines.
Quarrel brings fighting words to XBLA Jan. 25 for 400 Microsoft Points
Ignition Entertainment and Denki are following up the acclaimed iOS release of the word game Quarrel with the long-awaited XBLA version on January 25, for 400 Microsoft Points ($5), Joystiq can announce exclusively. The XBLA release features the same character art, style, and gameplay as the portable iteration, as you can see in our gallery below. However, this console version features something very important that the iOS one didn't: online multiplayer for 2-4 players! No longer are you at the mercy of Quarrel's surprisingly punishing AI; instead, you can test your anagrammery against your friends. Those friends will have to be remote, as Quarrel's multiplayer is online-only. This XBLA release was the original version of Quarrel. Denki was working on it until 2010, when finances forced the developer to cut staff. Ignition stepped in last year and rescued the game by taking on publishing duties.%Gallery-144827%
ESA members asked individually about SOPA, some respond
Rock, Paper, Shotgun collaborated in obtaining responses. The Entertainment Software Association's support of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" has led us to ask every member of the video game industry's lobbying and political group to publicly declare its stance on the bill. The ESA's continued support means every member, by proxy, is a supporter of the bill. Some companies have pulled their logos from supporting SOPA documentation to dodge ire, while others are hiding behind rhetoric, as you'll see below. Joystiq contacted every member of the ESA and requested a declarative statement on SOPA. After the break we've listed the responses we've received, along with others we found. We continue to seek clarity on this issue from every member of the ESA. This will become the page we update as we receive responses and clear declarative statements, so feel free to bookmark. (Joystiq does not support SOPA, nor does our parent company.)
Test your flailing skills with Kung-Fu High Impact demo
Fancy yourself an on-screen kung fu master? Now is the chance to prove your high-kicking abilities, thanks to a demo for the Kinect-powered Kung-Fu High Impact. Like its PlayStation 3 cousin Kung-Fu Live – which we rather enjoyed – Kung-Fu High Impact transports your image onto the screen, turning your own body into a video game pugilist. In other words, it's basically Nick Arcade.
Quarrel on sale this weekend for an agreeable 99 cents
If you've been playing the free version of Quarrel, and you're ready for a new collection of virtual wordsmith-generals to be drubbed by, take note: From 12:01am PDT tomorrow (3:01am EDT) through Sunday night at 11:59pm PDT (2:59am EDT), Quarrel Deluxe is on sale, marked down from $5 to the magic iPhone price point of 99 cents. That takes away some of the sting from the purchase, leaving only the sting of having all your territory captured by an AI who is just better than you are at coming up with big words on the fly.
Portabliss: Quarrel
Did you know that you can download handheld games now? That's amazingly convenient! The only inconvenient part of it is finding the right games to buy -- and that's where we come in, with our Portabliss column. In each installment, we'll tell you about a downloadable game on the iPhone, iPad, Android device, DSi, 3DS, PSP, etc. Today: Quarrel. "If you're an Independent Developer, and you're not selling games directly to customers yet, start worrying, because this industry is changing beyond all recognition." – Denki founder Colin Anderson After failing to find a publisher for its Xbox Live Arcade word puzzler Quarrel, developer Denki laid off much of its staff and got to work on abandoning its "old business model" so it could start selling games directly to customers. And while that Xbox Live Arcade version has been done for some time, and has finally found a publisher in Ignition Entertainment, it's the new iOS version that Denki is releasing first ... last Thursday, in fact. Quarrel is a polished word puzzler that bills itself as equal parts Scrabble and Risk, and it works like this: You face-off against computer-controlled opponents, trying to capture every territory on the map; however, unlike Risk, battles in Quarrel are fought with words. At the beginning of each match, both players will be given the same eight letters, an anagram shuffled up beyond recognition (my last round was PANELLED). The number of letters you're able to deploy in battle depends on how many troops you have on each territory. My six-troop territory played PLEAD, worth 10 points, against the AI's six-troop PEEL, worth a measly seven. %Gallery-131083%
Swery considering new game, more Deadly Premonition projects
Deadly Premonition creator Hidetaka Suehiro, known as "Swery," is full of crazy ideas -- as anyone who played his weird, sprawling, Twin Peaks-inspired game will tell you. Some of the ideas currently occupying Swery's mind involve new games, and extensions of Deadly Premonition. "What I can say," the Access Games producer told Metro, "is that I'm making a storyline for a completely new game." As for Deadly Premonition, he's got "different types" of projects in mind. "Trying to think of ways to create a sequel, that's definitely on the table, trying to create a prequel is also definitely on the table; and also a project to have more people play Deadly Premonition." An easy guess as to the identity of that last project: bringing the PS3 version of the game, currently available in Japan, to the West. All of these projects, as Swery has noted before, will require money before he can take them on -- which might not be a problem anymore. Swery said that "A few publishers have contacted our company, after the success of Deadly Premonition, and we are now creating concepts for them - which is why there's so many things on the table right now. "
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron review: Just like heaven
When I started playing El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron for review, I told myself I wasn't going to be fooled by the visuals. I would evaluate this game based on its mechanics more than anything, and I wouldn't let form distract me from function. I abandoned that idea quickly. For one thing, visuals are a part of the experience, and must be considered. For another thing, this game is beautiful, to the point that they justify the game on their own as a form of digital tourism. You must see this game -- and, since those graphics support one of the more mechanically interesting action games in recent memory, you should probably play it too. %Gallery-130678%
El Shaddai bumped up a day in Europe, to September 8
Konami has signed on to help spread the good word in Europe, assisting Ignition Entertainment's El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron in its holy pilgrimage to PAL territories. Konami will act as Ignition's distribution partner in Europe. Along with the announcement of the distribution team's bolstering, the release date for the religiously-themed PS3/Xbox 360 game has shifted -- but not back like it was in North America. It'll now be released in Europe one day earlier, on September 8. Thank heaven!
Disney looking to buy out Faxion Online developer
Disney could become a major player in the future of Faxion Online if it goes ahead with a proposed deal to buy out the rest of UTV Software Communications' stock. Currently, Disney has a majority stake in the company -- 50.4% -- but this move would bring it up to a nice round 100%. The Ignition Entertainment label would fall under this deal, which has already been struggling with numerous layoffs and studio closings. We recently reported that UTV Ignition had to cut a good portion of its programming, maintenance, and customer service staff as part of these problems. Whether or not this deal will prove a boon or a hammer blow to Ignition remains to be seen. Disney has previously closed down developers Black Rock and Propaganda Games, although Mickey's parent company is looking to move in the direction of more social and casual gaming. We'll keep a close eye on this deal to see how it plays out.
Report: Disney wants to buy UTV/Ignition for $454M
The Walt Disney Company is allegedly working to fully acquire UTV, parent company of Ignition Entertainment, for $454 million. Develop reports that Disney, which already owns 50.4 percent of UTV, is seeking to fully acquire the company for its Bollywood films and TV shows -- and not for its games. If the deal does happen, Ignition's fate would be in the hands of Disney. Ignition has been troubled for quite some time, altering its business strategy last year and ceasing to develop core games internally. Disney's strategy, on the other hand, has seen the shuttering of its core game studios like Black Rock and Propaganda, and a heavy emphasis on the social space. Disney's acquisition of UTV may have nothing to do with games on the surface, but it'll likely impact Ignition in a dramatic way.
Kung-Fu Live comes to Kinect as 'Kung Fu High Impact'
It always seemed kind of weird that Virtual Air Guitar Company's Kung-Fu Live, a game about performing real punches and kicks in front of a camera to control an on-screen representation of yourself, wasn't a Kinect game, going instead to PSN with PlayStation Eye support. Now, the game is coming to Kinect, with a new name: Kung-Fu High Impact, and two new publishers: Ignition Entertainment in America, and Black Bean Games in PAL territories. Watch for it to be released worldwide in November, at which point it'll begin watching you.%Gallery-129190%
