dragons lair
Latest
EA dragging Dragon's Lair to iPhone
click to cross the drawbridge into Screenshots' LairFollowing the well-received (by us, anyway) iPhone version of Space Ace, another, better-known Bluth-animated FMV classic is headed to the platform -- a game that, unlike Heavy Rain, is Dragon's Lair. This time, EA Play is publishing the 1983 Cinematronics arcade game, with an expected December release date. We'll get to watch Dirk the Daring die over and over again in a convenient portable format! Dragon's Lair features both an "arcade mode" with the game as originally presented, and a "home mode" with extra scenes not used in the coin-op version. Our gallery features some new screens of the iPhone version, which look exactly like the game looked in 1983. Which is kind of the point. There's supposedly a DSiWare version on the way as well, though EA doesn't seem to be involved with that one. %Gallery-79597%
USK: Digital Leisure daring to put Dragon's Lair on DSiWare
If you like FMV games, the iPhone port of Space Ace is something of a revelation. It's the full laserdisc game, in much better visual quality than most ports, on a handheld platform for five bucks. If you don't, it's just another FMV game, and everyone knows those aren't real games anyway. A German USK rating suggests that Digital Leisure is planning to port its predecessor, Dragon's Lair, to DSiWare. While we have no doubt that the DS hardware can run the game -- in fact, a Dragon's Lair conversion has been in progress for years by United Coders, and we wouldn't be surprised if that's what this is -- the file size is an issue. Space Ace on iPhone takes up 243MB, which is much larger than any DSiWare game. We hope Digital Leisure comes up with a solution for this issue other than porting the NES Dragon's Lair.[Via GoNintendo]
Heavy Rain's David Cage wants to set the record straight on QTEs
"No! We don't make Dragon's Lair! This is not Dragon's Lair – do you think I'm crazy? I'm not stupid. Do you think I develop on PlayStation 3 to do Dragon's Lair again? It would be absurd. Of course it's not." We typically lead into quotes with a bit more background than that, but those who've read message board diatribes dismissing the upcoming Heavy Rain as nothing more than a series of Quick Time Events surely understand the frustration of Quantic Dream founder David Cage -- who owns the mouth from which the above quote was uttered during a press demonstration at GamesCom 2009. Cage went on to explain "when there is an action sequence, yes we integrate [these] QTE sequences," but the rest of the time, the player will have full control as they navigate the game's four characters through a deep, choice-riddled story. That actually sounds pretty reminiscent of Quantic's last game, Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit. That's great and all -- but we actually wouldn't be disappointed by a new installment in the Dragon's Lair franchise. We admit it -- we're Dirkheads, through and through.
Dragon's Lair on NES might be the worst game ever
While we like to think that we've played a lot of NES games, we never experienced the console's version of Dragon's Lair. And we're thankful for that, as a Nintendorks video (available after the break) shows what could possibly be the worst game ever made ever. Not only is the gameplay an issue, but it's so tough that getting past the first screen is on par with scoring a womp rat bullseye in your T17! How do you make this game and not stop to question it halfway through?
Bluth and Co. treat fans as Dragon's Lair turns 25
It's hard to believe that a quarter-century has passed since the first LaserDisc-based arcade game from former Disney animator Don Bluth hit arcades. Dragon's Lair's use of hand-drawn animation set it apart from anything else at the time, and despite its simple trial-and-error gameplay, the game was a hit.Digital Leisure, which has worked with Bluth to deliver countless home versions of Dragon's Lair, is offering a treat to fans of the classic for one week only. Anyone who purchases the DVD, PC, or Blu-ray Disc version from its online shop can have their copy signed by Bluth, designer Rick Dyer, and animators Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy. We highly recommend the BD version, which plays exactly like the original coin-op and runs in full 1080p. The company is also offering signed Dragon's Lair "lobby posters" for $80 a pop. Lead on, brave adventurers – your memorabilia awaits!
Digital Leisure's Space Ace headed to HD DVD and Blu-ray
If you didn't quite get your fill of Dirk the Daring with Dragon's Lair on HD DVD and Blu-ray, Digital Leisure has you covered. Slated to arrive on April 8th on both major formats, the completely restored Space Ace will allow fans of the series to check out a 1080p version of the game and treat their ears to a freshly created 5.1-channel audio mix. Additionally, the title was authored in both BD-Java for Blu-ray and HDi for HD DVD, ensuring that customers have access to the highly-anticipated interactive features regardless of what camp they're in. Also of note, each title will have slightly different extras (detailed in the read link below), so hardcore fans should be sure to pick up both for the full experience -- if you're cool with dropping $49.95 apiece, that is.
PSP Dragon's Lair game needs publisher
Dragon's Lair is like Dracula in Castlevania games. No matter how many times it's killed, history's most interactive DVD menu screen continues to rise from the abyss, ready to arbitrarily kill players for their lack of memorization skills. Now, the game's making its way to PSP, that is, if United Coders can find a publishers for Dirk's reanimated corpse.This "Director's Cut" does have a few tweaks, with new scenes added, a castle map that displays your progress and five lives per player instead of three. (There's also an "Arcade" mode if you prefer fewer retries.) ... So, that's the end of the post. We know it was jarring, but unfortunately, our supply of punchy ways to end a story about Dragon's Lair were used up around the game's 17th iteration.
Dragon's Lair becomes even more linear on the DS
United Coders sent out a press release aimed at soliciting publishers for the PSP version of Dragon's Lair, and revealed some details about the identical-in-gameplay DS version in so doing. Since we didn't know anything about the game other than that it's Dragon's Lair, we were happy to see some specifics.The Director's Cut mode adds the drawbridge sequence that didn't make it into the original arcade game, but has been found in most home releases since then. It also removes the score counter from the game and increases the number of lives. But more interestingly, the Director's Cut changes the level structure of the game into a more linear one. The original Dragon's Lair levels were presented in a semi-random order, with each level selected from a small pool of potential choices. The Director's Cut follows a prescribed level order designed by Technical Producer Dave Hallock. There's also a scrolling display of your progressIn the NeoGAF discussion thread, we also found a link to videos taken by a beta tester on the game. Some HUD elements have been added since the last video. the Director's Cut is not shown, but the Arcade Mode footage looks fantastic, with the arcade-accurate LED score counter and everything. It is unknown whether the bizarre dual-screen view option is still around.Check after the break for, oddly enough, the PSP press release.
Dragon's Lair DS dares to display video
The news that Dragon's Lair would be making its way to the DS is either very exciting or very meh. Either way you slice it, the title is still one of the most revered in gaming and will surely find many consumers wishing to pick it up on the DS (that goes without saying that the game will find a brand new audience on the handheld, as well).
More than just Dragon's Lair coming to the DS
We all knew that Dragon's Lair was going to be making an appearance on the DS. Now, we know when. Dragon's Lair, along with its sequel Dragon's Lair II, will both be gracing the handheld come early 2008. Not only that, but Conspiracy Entertainment also scored the rights to publishing Space Ace (our preferred title out of the lot) on the handheld as well.Nothing much on the Space Ace port and all of the features in Dragon's Lair were previously confirmed. So, be sure to keep an eye on DS Fanboy for future updates on these games.
Dragon's Lair coming to HD DVD
More than a year after we first heard it was being remastered in high definition, Digital Leisure has announced plans to release Dragon's Lair on HD DVD. The old laserdisc classic, which already shipped on Blu-ray earlier this year comes to HD DVD August 15th. The 1080p visuals and 5.1 surround of the Blu-ray release are intact, and if that's not enough, it also plans to follow up with future releases of Space Ace and Dragon's Lair II on the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats.
Dragon's Lair now bound for HD DVD
If you're like us, there was one primary factor in your choice of high-definition disc formats: the availability of Dragon's Lair. By that logic, we were siding with Blu-ray for awhile, but now we're just ambivalent.An HD-DVD version of Dragon's Lair is coming August 15 for $29.99, the same price as the Blu-ray incarnation. O, what are we to do? We can't decide, so we'll just stick to our DS version, thank you very much.
DS Dragon's Lair makes a Daring choice
The laserdisc classic Dragon's Lair is back again, after appearances on basically every system ever built, either in its original form (PC, Sega CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, Game Boy Color) or in some kind of terrible adaptation (NES, SNES, PS2). This time, Digital Leisure is releasing it in more or less original form on the DS, with some ... interesting options. Of particular interest is the ability to control the game via touch screen. We imagine this will involve tapping the appropriate side of the screen. There are also optional move indicators, voice control (?), rumble support, and multiple difficulty settings.And then there's the big feature. You can choose to play the game on one screen, or stretched across both. This allows Dragon's Lair to benefit from the advanced view obstruction technology not available in the arcade version. [Via NeoGAF]
Dragon's Lair remastered into high-def
Anyone around the early laserdisc scene has to remember Dragon's Lair. The game shipped with the Pioneer LD-V1000 and became an instant classic. The game wasn't as immersive as many people wanted and only offered the player a few options on how to control Dirk the Daring but even still, it was the first game to offer live motion graphics way back in '83. Well, the game is getting remastered to high-def by Digital Leisure and will be re-released on PC DVD complete with 5.1 surround sound. The game should be ready by the holiday season.You might want to check out the trailer too.
