comic-con 2010
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Dragon Quest IX map, Metroid: Other M demo available at Comic-Con
Yes, there will be lots of interesting panels, swag, premieres, celebrities and other stuff at Comic-Con. Whatever. Nintendo just gave us the real reason the July 22-25 event is worth attending: a new Dragon Quest IX map. If you bring your DS to Nintendo's booth, with the game running in Tag Mode, you'll automatically pick up the "Mortamor" treasure map, being offered for the first time in North America. Presumably, other people will be there doing the same thing, making it your best chance at multiplayer. If you aren't playing DQIX yet, you'll be able to spend some demo time with it at the booth (#2944). You'll also get the opportunity to play Metroid: Other M, over a month before its August 31 release. Now that's an opportunity worth fighting the cosplaying crowd for.
Two great Okami convention collectibles coming soon
There are not one but two brilliant Okami-related items in this post, and we tossed and turned all last night about which one we should put pre-break, and which one we should put after. In the end, we flipped a coin, and this amazing Okami polystone statue won. It features a terrific sculpture of everyone's favorite Shinto deity, Amaterasu, and will be available starting at the 2010 International Tokyo Toy Show for 15,540 yen. That's about US$176, so it's not cheap -- but at about 8" across and about 5" tall, it's a nice chunk of sculpted form. We're still not sure we made the right decision though -- the second piece of collectible Okami gear will be found at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, and also after the break.
Assassin's Creed comic confirmed, likely set in Russia
As we deduced early last month, Assassin's Creed is getting the comic book treatment -- but based on the teaser video found after the break, the time period and setting will be pretty far removed from 15th-century Italy. Set to be fully revealed at next week's San Diego Comic-Con, the three-part mini-series by artists Cameron Stewart (Batman & Robin) and Karl Kerschl (The Flash) coming this fall will apparently take place in Imperial Russia and somehow involve the Tunguska Event of 1908, an explosion that is the source of some supernatural theories. The series is coming from Ubisoft Montreal's UbiWorkshop, which the publisher describes as being charged with "leveraging Ubisoft intellectual properties in entertainment mediums outside of video games, such as comic books." It's interesting to note that the first piece of Assassin's Creed related comic book artwork to emerge from UbiWorkshop (which has been replaced with this one, depicting a "steampunk samurai" Assassin) actually teased an Egyptian setting -- maybe we're due for mini-series, plural. If you're going to be attending SDCC, the "Assassin's Creed: Behind and Beyond the Brotherhood" panel (which will also feature Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood writer Jefferey Johalem) is on July 22 at 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. PDT, in room 7AB. No Templars allowed.
NCsoft announces Comic-Con schedule for Aion, City of Heroes, and Guild Wars 2
Comic-Con is just over a week away, and if you're a fan of any of NCsoft's games you'll be happy about the latest news: NCsoft has released the full schedule for its Comic-Con presence. Fans will be treated to some merchandise giveaways and signings, and there will be speaking sessions centered around Guild Wars 2 and City of Heroes: Going Rogue. While we can't play Guild Wars 2 quite yet, NCsoft will have stations set up to experience Aion and Going Rogue. Events are scheduled daily from the 22nd through the 25th, so check out the NCsoft events calendar to be sure you don't miss anything!
