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Blizzard may reveal 'Diablo IV' at Blizzcon
Blizzard is in desperate need of a major pick-me-up after a torrid few weeks, and might have an ace up its sleeve for Blizzcon, which takes place in less than two weeks. An ad for a Diablo artbook suggests that Diablo IV exists, and Blizzard might very well unveil it at the convention.
'The Last Guardian' gets its own companion book
While 2016 hasn't been the best year for the world at large, it's certainly been a brilliant one for video games. As well as giving us excellent titles like Overwatch and Uncharted 4, 2016 has also seen the release of two games that many thought would never see the light of day - Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian.
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster comes with physical bonuses too
This video for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster explores the additional goodies that Collector's and Limited Edition buyers can expect when the remakes arrive on March 18, including the bonus artbook and visual soundtrack found in the Collector's Edition of the game.
Dragon's Crown pre-orders get this art book
Folks who pre-order Vanillaware and Atlus' forthcoming 2D hack-and-slash game, Dragon's Crown, will also receive a 64-page limited edition art book for their troubles. The paperback tome includes character and environmental artwork by Dragon's Crown designer/artist/Vanillaware president George Kamitani, in addition to pieces by other Japanese video game artists, such as Capcom alumnus Kinu Nishimura and Akira Yasuda. Atlus has also revealed the game's North American box art, which does a good job of obfuscating the art design's more controversial aspects. Dragon's Crown will drop for PlayStation 3 and Vita August 6, at $49.99 and $39.99 respectively.%Gallery-187956%
Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection coming to Japan in July, includes artbook
The official Japanese site for the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection includes a few more details than was seen in the bundle's initial announcement. For starters, the pack will include "a 100-page artbook filled with [series artist Yoji] Shinkawa's work," according to a translation by MetalGearSolid.nl. The official Japanese site also lists a July 11 release date for Japan. The English site for the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection also notes that the inclusion of both Metal Gear Solid 1 and Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions are via PSN download vouchers packed in to the bundle. The 100-page artbook isn't listed for the North American version of the collection.
Pre-orders open for 'The Art of Journey,' first 750 copies signed
The Art of Journey, thatgamecompany's compendium of concept and production artwork from its unbelievably gorgeous PSN game, can now be pre-ordered for $60 through Bluecanvas. The first 750 people to place their order will receive a copy of the book signed by Journey creative director Jenova Chen and art director Matt Nava.While some of the art book's pages are equipped with augmented reality capabilities, the new photos of the product below are not. You can, however, hold a book up to your nose while looking at these pictures, and it's kind of like Smell-O-Vision.%Gallery-164752%
Journey's art travels to bookshelves next month
The beautiful art of Journey – and we're talking about the PS3 game here, and not the band, although the cover design for Escape is a total classic – will be available in a coffee table-appropriate format next month.The Art of Journey, a hardcover book designed and written by art director Matt Nava, includes art from the game, and discusses the influences and ideas behind its development. It also includes in-game 3D models, visible AR-style by pointing a smartphone at a special code on the page. For more multimedia satisfaction, the book also includes a PSN voucher for a copy of the Journey soundtrack.
Pre-order a Mass Effect artbook for an in-game rifle on PC or Xbox
Three games in, the true meaning of "Mass Effect" is revealed: it refers to the masses of stuff you're tempted to buy for in-game DLC. Joining the recently announced DLC-laden action figures is the "Art of the Mass Effect Universe" artbook, which includes a download code for "the collector's rifle, among other cool content to beat out your opponents" when pre-ordered from Barnes & Noble.The "collector's rifle" refers to the Collector Assault Rifle, described by artbook publisher Dark Horse Comics as a gun whose "power source appears to be an internal organ with biotic capacitance; its ammunition resembles pellets of metallic enamel that strip shields off enemies with deadly efficiency." Strangely, Dark Horse also specifies that the codes work only on PC and Xbox 360, so PS3 owners will get nothing for their book purchase but the book they purchased.[Thanks Mark!]
Pre-order Etrian Odyssey 3, get Etrian art to see
You won't have to search the ocean or a subterranean dungeon for this treasure -- Atlus announced that copies of Etrian Odyssey 3: The Drowned City pre-ordered from certain retailers will include "Forests of Eternity," a 60-page artbook. The full-color book includes character and background artwork not only from The Drowned City, but from the previous Etrian Odysseys as well. But why tell you about it when we can show you? Atlus posted an excerpt of the book for you to page through. "Beware!" it notes. "The artwork and designs contained in this book may reveal more than you wish to know of Etrian Odyssey III!" You'd be better off avoiding the preview, then, if you've got a spoiler allergy.
Guild Wars 2 art book to not be included in the collector's edition
If you've been keeping your eye on that very gorgeous artbook that's currently residing in the Guild Wars 2 store/Penny Arcade store but have been holding off on your purchase, you might want to reconsider. ArenaNet has recently confirmed, via Twitter, that the art book in the Penny Arcade store will not be coming with the Guild Wars 2 collector's edition box.So if you were really looking forward to this artbook, looks like you're going to have to put down the 30 dollars and pick it up separately. On the bright side, it's a hardbound 128 page book of what looks to be some really beautiful art.As to what will be included in the collector's edition, well, your guess is as good as ours right now. ArenaNet is being tight lipped on those features, and it looks like we're just going to have to wait.
Breakfast Topic: Will you subscribe to the World of Warcraft Magazine?
The announcement that Future and Blizzard are teaming up to produce World of Warcraft: The Magazine surprised almost everyone, I think. No more so because of the undeniable shift from print to digital media. However the fact that Blizzard is involved and the promise of no adverts and a "coffee table" kind of feel makes this very appealing. Granted the subscription is a little high, especially when you consider you're only getting four issues for your cash and yet I think a lot of people are going to sign up. I'm probably going to be one of them.As a fanbase, we're know for collecting shiny things to do with our game of choice, whether it's a Wrath Collector's Edition or a Starcraft II messenger bag. Personally my thing is artbooks: I've got the whole set from the Art of the World of Warcraft to the Cinematic Artbook from last year's BlizzCon so the idea of a magazine loaded with artwork and interviews and all that jazz makes me very excited. What about you, constant readers, will you be tempted to subscribe?
Phoenix Wright artbook is Exhibit A in the case of Udon vs. our wallets
Udon Entertainment has announced its next Capcom artbook, following collections of Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and Mega Man art: The Art of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, featuring 240 pages of improbably dramatic images of lawyers and their teenage friends. The book features covers, promotional art, and character designs and profiles from the three Phoenix Wright graphical text adventures, as well as "the complete artwork" from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Udon plans to release this in October -- the same month in which it will release the Mega Man Official Complete Works, potentially causing a problem for people with only enough money in their artbook budget for one book about a blue-clad Capcom character per month. [Via Kotaku]
Udon releasing Street Fighter art book this September
Capcom didn't have to tease Udon Entertainment's new SF20 art book with an Akiman image of Chun-Li and King of Fighters' Mai Shiranui almost kissing and almost punching each other. In fact, we really wanted to post about this art book, which features work from Capcom artists like Shinkiro, Kinu Nishimura, and others, but we hesitated because of that preview image, which would have made us look like total pervs instead of Capcom art aficionados.We were pleased, then, to see this less make-outy Chun Li image among Udon's preview pages. The book contains art from Street Fighter all the way through Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.
Surprise! Atlus including free stuff with Knights in the Nightmare
Atlus has gotten into the habit of releasing bonus stuff of some kind with all of its games. Legacy of Ys, The Dark Spire, and Super Robot Taisen Etc. all come with free soundtracks, and Hammerin' Hero on the PSP includes irresistible figurines for preorders. Knights in the Nightmare is no exception. The company just announced that, like its other recent DS offerings, all copies of Knights will come in an oversized box with a bundled CD soundtrack disc. In addition, preorders from "participating retailers" will include an art book! In its press release about the bundle, Atlus blamed Charlie the Chimpanzee, the ape in charge of the Spoils program, for recent excesses. "In hindsight, hiring a non-human for this position may have been a mistake," said Atlus PR manager Aram Jabbari.New screenshots are available in our gallery, and we've got a second gallery after the break featuring preview images from the art book.%Gallery-21499%
Blizzard unveils Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic Artbook
So hey, this is pretty cool. I like to consider myself a connoisseur of video game art, owning a good number of hardcover, glossy-paged artbooks that help me out when a) I need some inspiration, or b) I need to feel really inferior about my art. The artbook released with the Collector's Edition of Wrath was very well put-together (and certainly an improvement over the original WoW artbook with its half-pages of pre-rendered art for every race but orcs and humans) and had everything I like in an artbook--but oh, what's this, Blizzard? An entire book that shows and discusses the process of making the Wrath cinematic? Yes, this will do.Published by Insight Editions and titled The Cinematic Art of Wrath of the Lich King, it features 200 pieces of high-res concept art and CG renders, two 8x10 art cards with concept art of Arthas and Sindragosa the Frost Queen, lots of lore bits about major players in Wrath's storyline, and (I think this is the coolest) a 12-page illustrated storybook that tells the tale of Sindragosa. And even beyond all that, there's behind-the-scenes commentary about the cinematic every step of the way. It's valuable insight if you're interested in storyboarding, production, or just the Blizzard creative process.I think we can all agree that it sounds pretty awesome, whether you're into art or WoW itself. You can pick it up, if you're so inclined, at Amazon.com for the very reasonable sale price of $19.77 USD. If you're as-yet-unconvinced, you can check out a preview of the book at Blizzard's Wrath site.
Lux-Pain is apparently a big deal
Lux-Pain is a fairly under-the-radar adventure game from new developer Killaware, in which you scratch at people with the stylus to psychically discover secret information. Or, at least, we thought it was under the radar. But publisher Marvelous is giving it a big push in Japan, bundling it with two preorder bonuses, both with cute names. Lux-Sound is, obviously, a soundtrack CD, and Lux-Paint is an artbook.So now, because of a CD of music we wouldn't know if we like, and a book of art we find kind of generic, we want this game that we'd have to import. Of course, we wouldn't even get this preorder stuff if we bought the game. We shudder to think what glowing orbs of information would be hidden inside our minds if someone were to scrape a spirit-stylus over us.
Rune Factory 2 comes with cool extras (in Japan)
We may have to wait a long time before Rune Factory 2 gets released outside of Japan, but that doesn't mean we can't be excited. Not only is Japan getting the game in January (those lucky bastards), but certain limited editions will come with this soundtrack disc and art book. We hope these goodies come our way when the game comes out here, although we highly doubt it.Judging from the cover of the art book, the style of the game is very similar to the first Rune Factory. Pictured are the main character (whose name is Kyle) and some girl with crazy eyes. We also like the contemplative looking dragon in the background. The soundtrack, meanwhile, includes arranged versions of four songs from the game. Pretty neat bonus, we think. Anyone else as jealous as we are?
UDON's Art of Capcom: 300+ page artbook available this summer
If you're going to find yourself at this weekend's Anime Expo, you best hightail it over to UDON's corner and get a look at their 300+ page artbook titled, simply, UDON's Art of Capcom. Not going to be at Anime Expo but would kill a loved one (preferably with a brutal combo) to get your murderous mitts on one? They'll only be available "at conventions throughout the summer." No word on what those other conventions might be, but we doubt you'll find UDON at your annual holistic podiatry convention.The rest of you, you'll just have to wait until the fall when they'll be available at your favorite stores, far from the cosplaying crowds of Anime Expo. Be sure to peep the back cover after the break or hit up the Read link for the high-res wallpaper-worthy version.[Thanks, Jim!]
