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Dante's Inferno demo on PSN Dec. 10, XBLM Dec. 24
There are plenty of beloved Christmas Eve traditions observed across the globe. Whether it's roasting chestnuts or watching the Christmas Story marathon, everyone's got a different way of marking the arrival of St. Nick. EA's hoping that the 360 owners among you will start a brand new, equally-sentimental tradition as it releases a demo of Dante's Inferno for XBLM on Dec. 24. The sample includes the entire first level of Dante's demonic journey into hell and goes great with eggnog. Those preferring PSN will get the demo on Dec. 10, a date which has the dual benefit of (1) being two weeks earlier and (2) not making the baby Jesus cry.
Rumor: OPM teases Dead Space reveal in December
Considering the artwork depicted on the "next month" page of November's Official PlayStation Magazine, it requires only the slightest of hops to reach the conclusion that a new Dead Space announcement is lurking just around the corner. Allegedly snapped by GOONL!NE (as in the connectivity instruction, not the lineup of criminals), the artwork features a grotesque, tentacled creature viewed through what appears to be the iconic toaster visor of Dead Space protagonist Isaac Clarke. The site confidently suggests that the creature itself is derived from the original game's concept art. Now's the time to strategically remember several job listings, which mentioned a Dead Space follow-up, along with EA CEO John Riccitiello's recently expressed desire to have EA focus on more profitable, safer games. What could be safer than an isolated spaceship sending out a distress call? The November issue of Official PlayStation Magazine is on sale behind youuuuu in the UK right now. [Via CVG]
Pre-order 'Mass: We Pray' for free Dante's Inferno trailer
We had an icky feeling when we first watched the Mass: We Pray teaser. Not because of the toll excessive devotional gameplay might take on our souls, but because we were pretty sure we were being virally marketed to in some way or another. It turns out, our unease (also felt by a few others, including The Escapist) was spot on, as We Pray has been revealed as the latest move in the Dante's Inferno marketing campaign's fight against good taste. Clicking to pre-order the game on the website or to get a better look at the controllers, now triggers a message about heresy, along with a trailer for Dante's Inferno and a link to the Facebook app, "Go to Hell." Sorry if you were looking forward to We Pray! [Thanks, Thomas]
Video: The story of Dante's Inferno
To: Electronic Arts CC: Visceral Games RE: Voice-over suggestion for latest Dante's Inferno trailer ATT: dante-story-trailer.flv Male (30s, 40s - Gruff, gravelly voice) "The denizens of Hell stole the woman he loved ... but they didn't realize they were messing with the wrong 14th century Italian poet. In a world where the damned scream out for absolution, one man will fight for justice. It's time for some serious payback, and the Devil just wrote a check he can't cash. Electronic Arts presents ... Dante's Inferno. Next Spring, there's going to be Hell to pay." (Alternate closer: "Next Spring, it's damned if you do, damned if you die.") Thank you for your consideration,
Ex-Visceral Games staff find new home with Activision's 'Sledgehammer Games'
It's official: Visceral Games staffers Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey (best known for Dead Space) have taken positions at a new Activision studio in Foster City, California, called Sledgehammer Games. This tidily clears up two rumors we've been hearing. Yes, Schofield and Condrey went to Activision. Yes, the trademark for "Sledgehammer Games" is for their new studio! As for the small matter of what the studio is doing ... all Activision says is that it's an "as-yet-unannounced new videogame." It might be called Bloodhunt. It might be an "innovative" action game. Kotaku posits that it might even be Activision's new James Bond game, given that Schofield worked on From Russia with Love back at EA. Whatever it is, we're sure it will be totally visceral ... you know, like a hit from a sledgehammer. As a service to those of you thinking about it anyway (i.e. all of us), we've got the Peter Gabriel video after the break.
EA job listing hints at online multiplayer for Dead Space 2
If an Electronic Arts job listing is any indication, Dead Space 2 is set to receive a gameplay feature that none of us saw coming -- online multiplayer support. The listing, which calls for the aid of a "Senior Online Level Designer," mentions that the new hire should "be able to work collaboratively with Creative Director and Online Producer to create extremely fun, satisfying and polished multiplayer levels." Those who desire to create droll, unsatisfying and shoddy multiplayer levels should probably look for employment elsewhere. We'd call this move surprising based on the fact that we have no idea how it would work out. Given the first game's heavy focus on "strategic dismemberment," we can only imagine that multiplayer matches will quickly devolve into hilarious, appendage-removing duels. Kind of like Bushido Blade meets the Black Knight scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (Actually, that sounds pretty awesome!) [Thanks, Andrew!]
Dante's Inferno concept was greenlit immediately
The Dante's Inferno game concept -- a totally brutal action-adventure based on Dante Alighieri's epic poem -- seems like a hard sell to us, but it was no problem getting EA on board. As it turns out, EA was all in from the very beginning, according to Visceral creative director Jonathan Knight's recollection during a PlayStation Blog interview (that you can watch after the break). He got the go-ahead "pretty much right away," as EA executives apparently saw "the potential in the mythology" glowing green before their very eyes. "Nobody's really taken on that kind of medieval Christian notion of the afterlife as a very real place that you go to, you know, just under the ground, and there's monsters and demons and rivers," Knight said. "It's just a crazy, fantastical, incredible vision that Dante Alighieri had for Hell, and my execs immediately saw the potential there for a real game." In addition to the appeal of Hell -- a concept that "everybody has some knowledge of" -- we can imagine that EA appreciated what is basically a licensed game based on a public domain property, especially these days. %Gallery-45836%
Dante's Inferno demo burning up Xbox 360 and PS3 next month
Though Visceral Games' video game adaptation of the classic parable known as Dante's Inferno (which, fun fact, was actually a book adaptation of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey) won't see the light of day until next February, we'll be getting our dirty, sin-soaked hands on a demo for the game in December. In 'The Gates of Hell,' players will be able to traverse the entire first level of the game, taking them from the surface world to the titular portcullis, where they must battle (and presumably kill) Death himself. We imagine the game gets much easier after, you know, there's no more Death.
Dead Space tops on Riccitiello's list of faves
When John Riccitiello needs to unwind from a long day as CEO of EA, he does it with dismemberment. That's the word from an interview with Fox Business in which Riccy (No? Well, worth a shot) names Dead Space as his favorite game of the past 12 months. We're assuming he's not talking about the Wii version of the game, since it's a statistical improbability that he owns it. After his revelation that digital distribution offset retail sluggishness, the publishing boss went on to say it takes him around "50 to 60 hours" to finish a typical game. It prompts the question: Exactly how many times is he planning on fending off the necromorph threat?
Reuters: RE5 sold 1.94M in US; Dead Space 2 in development for 2010
In a story about the scarier games (it's almost Halloween, don'tchaknow?), Reuters mentioned two things we thought would be good for this website we got going here. First, there's Capcom's Resident Evil 5, which Reuters reports has managed to sell 1.94 million copies in the US, according to NPD Group figures. The second part of the Reuters story talks about EA and its spookier titles for 2009: Left 4 Dead 2 and Dead Space: Extraction. While there isn't anything new on the former, in a discussion of the latter, Reuters revealed that Dead Space 2 is apparently planned for a 2010 release, which would seem to confirm what we've heard about the game so far.
Dante's Inferno draws fire for baby murder Achievement
Dante's Inferno is getting flak from a nanny group over an Achievement for killing unbaptized babies -- not ironically, it's named "Bad Nanny." As GamePolitics points out, the International Nanny Association (INA) released a statement calling the 'cheevo "offensive to our association," as it seemingly defies the INA's goal to "promote and educate the public regarding the selfless work nannies do to support families." We here at Joystiq are thoroughly offended too, though mostly because we know that more than one person on staff will be once again be forced into a morally compromising position in the endless hunt for virtual grandeur.%Gallery-45836%
Academy Award nominee penning script for Dante's Inferno
A recent Visceral Games press release revealed the talent behind the script of Dante's Inferno: Will Rokos, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the screenplay for Monster's Ball. We missed out on that one when it was in theaters, but a quick Wikipedia search taught us that it's a troubling tale of ingrained racial conflict, shattered families, coping with lost loved ones and brief, uncompromising shots of Billy Bob Thornton's testicles. So, yeah. Lots of overlap between that and an action-oriented video game based on a 14th century epic poem. %Gallery-64908%
Video: Dante deals with Anger, kills demons
The latest in a series of developer diaries for Dante's Inferno has been released and, as we've come to expect, it's more familiar gameplay wrapped up in the hideous guise of a ruinous literary interpretation (one that Dante himself would supposedly approve of, no less). It's hard to say that the game doesn't look enjoyable, because it really does. The scythe and cross, which feature heavily in the video, look like a lot of fun to wield. The pursuit of a smooth, 60 FPS frame rate is admirable as well. Unfortunately, the arrival of this "Anger" video also likely means the arrival of something in our own Chris Grant's mailbox. Some grim, tasteless thing that will shake our faith in humanity and the wisdom of EA's marketing department. And so, we wait.
EA trademarks 'The Ripper,' could be Visceral's next game
It's a well-known fact that for the past year or so, Electronic Arts has developed an insatiable addiction for new intellectual property. Rather than kick the habit, the company's making moves to further feed its franchise fixation -- EA recently filed two trademarks reserving the title "The Ripper" for use in a computer game (or other "entertainment service"). Now, this title could mean one of two things: It may be a Visceral Games-developed action title based on Jack the Ripper, a project which was hinted at by anonymous EA sources to the LA Times back in July. It could also be an interactive biography of the life of Rip Taylor, which has no supporting evidence behind it whatsoever, but would make us happy for the rest of our lives. [Via Superannuation]
Metareview: Dead Space: Extraction (Wii)
Did you know that Dead Space: Extraction landed in stores this week? It's true! We certainly dug it in our Snap Judgment, but in case that just wasn't enough for you, we've compiled a few other folks' opinions on the game just below. Worried about not seeing that beautiful screaming face in the future? We are too, folks. We are too. GamePro (100/100): "An experience that's more captivating and engaging than any light-gun game I've ever played before. [The story] mirrors Dead Space's thoughtful dialogue, characterizations and pacing which is a good thing all around." GameDaily (80/100): "Although we questioned EA's decision to do this, as well as bring Dead Space to the family centric Wii, everything clicks and the game's surprisingly enjoyable. Instead of conjuring up a cheesy narrative (as seen in other shooters like Ghost Squad), the developers put a lot of effort into the story and its characters." Eurogamer (80/100): "Gameplay is straightforward, yet it's a refined familiarity, borrowing numerous elements from the original Dead Space in abundance while wrapping them around the well-worn demands of a typical on-rails shooter ... One area that definitely benefits from the on-rails nature of Extraction is the overall pacing. Sometimes you creep along agonisingly, other times it feels like the enemy onslaught is never going to end. There are few occasions where you don't come away feeling like your scraped through by the skin of your teeth, and even on the game's lowest 'Normal' difficulty, there's a definite sense of achievement when you get through." Giant Bomb (60/100): "Extraction's marketing campaign would like you to think of it as a 'guided experience' that whisks you through the dramatic beginnings of the series' horrible space-monster outbreak, but in blunt terms, Extraction is an on-rails shooter. Blunter still: it's a light-gun game. These days, that's not a style of game serious game players usually gravitate toward. But keeping the genre's inherent restrictions in mind--not to mention the limitations of the Wii hardware -- Extraction is really pretty good, for what it is." %Gallery-49881%
Snap Judgment: Dead Space Extraction
When we review a game without finishing it, we call it a Snap Judgment. Read why here. Time played: 3 hours I'm personally a big fan of on-rails shooters, a genre that I think rarely gets its due. I'm not all that big on exploration, and I'm lazy, so having someone else take the reigns for me is a welcome relief, allowing me to focus on the all-important business of murder. So it's quite a treat to see a game like Dead Space Extraction that strikes a blow for lazy guys everywhere by finding the strengths of the genre and running with them. %Gallery-49881%
Dead Space 2 entering production in 'next few months'
LinkedIn continues to provide our only link to the status of a true sequel to Dead Space. A recent job posting on the professional networking site, created by EA senior recruiter Jeff Ballard, reports, "The previous installment in the Dead Space franchise received numerous awards ... and the same core team is in place to create an even better follow up." The posting adds, "The game is in the later stages of pre-production, ready for production in the next few months, with many of the navigational and combat mechanics in place."With the point-n-shoot spin-off, Dead Space Extraction, releasing this week for Wii, confirmation that the core-series sequel (expected for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC) will soon roll into production phase comes as welcome news to fans looking for the franchise to stay the traditional course. Hopefully, EA and developer Visceral Games' transmissions will continue to pick up from here on out.[Via superannuation]
Dead Space: Extraction launch trailer prepares us for the inevitable
If there's one thing we've learned from books, film and – when you really think about it – media of any kind, it's that man is destined to discover unspeakable evil off-world some day. Such is the case for Dead Space Extraction's Unitologists who've thrown caution to the wind and went out into the verse. And, as you can see in the trailer above, they're paying the price, which makes us think two things: Humanity needs to prepare for the inevitable. No, we're not talking about making a bunch of Arnold Schwarzenegger clones, but we could all stand to beef up on our diplomacy skills. Necromorphs have an amazing work ethic. They never take breaks and wouldn't dare dream of calling in sick.
TGS 2009: Hands-on with Dante's Inferno in the Land of the Lust
We've talked up Dante's Inferno and its similarities to God of War before -- and not much has changed in that regard in the game's latest build. So, instead of going deep into the gameplay here, we'll focus on the content we saw in the new level, based on the sin of "Lust." It's quite the hellish journey, especially for the folks at the ESRB. (Just a warning: despite our best efforts, given the subject matter, some of the content described might be considered NSFW. Read on at your own risk.) %Gallery-45836%
TGS 2009: Hands-on: Dante's Inferno (PSP)
While the PS3/360 game is largely criticized for being exactly like God of War, we could only wish the same held true for the PSP version of Dante's Inferno. Developed by A2M, the PSP version falls short of every benchmark set by Ready at Dawn's critically acclaimed Chains of Olympus. While few developers have been able to wring such incredible power out of Sony's handheld, it's immediately clear that A2M's efforts fall flat. Whereas Chains of Olympus featured volumetric fog and dynamic lighting, Dante's Inferno looks dull and lifeless.The console versions of Dante's Inferno do a remarkable job of copying Kratos' moves, button for button. The PSP game also does a copycat job: everything, from the standard strike, to the spin move, to the dodge, is mapped exactly according to the blueprint laid out by Sony. However, a good game requires more than just copying another game's controls. Dante's Inferno misses the flourishes that made Ready at Dawn's game so successful: visual flourishes, subtle pauses when striking, dynamic camera movement, and easily accessible finishing moves.%Gallery-51141%
