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The expansion for Dragon’s Dogma, titled Dark Arisen will see a late April release worldwide: April 23 for North America, 25 for Europe, and 26 for Japan. US versions ring up at $39.99, with European ones at €29.99 / £19.99 and the Japanese version at 4990 yen.

Among the usual expansion bonuses – new areas, new missions, new enemies – Dark Arisen will include the full base game with purchase. Additionally, some improvements are planned to the core game, notably to menus and travel in general; details on those were not provided at this time.

Source: Gematsu

Capcom has announced an expansion for Dragon’s Dogma, entitled Dark Arisen. Little is yet known about the additional content, other than it’s planned to release sometime in 2013. Additionally, Capcom is adding gameplay modes to the base content: Hard mode predictably cranks up the difficulty, while Speedrun Mode rewards players who finish the game under a certain time limit.

Source: Joystiq

In a recent interview, Dragon’s Dogma director Hideaki Itsuno was quoted as saying “I’m sure many have already cleared the game, but for Dragon’s Dogma, we’re continuing to prepare new play elements. It would be best if you held on to the game for a bit.” Itsuno added that domestic sales were better than expected, and that future content – perhaps in the form of “the next title” – would be possible with sustained fan support.

Source: Andriasang

Yaaay, we’re back!  And hopefully we’ll stay on time going forward, or at least we won’t lose power right when I’m about to start writing.  Anyway, news time!

• Sony acquires streaming game service Gaikai for a cool $380 million.  Speculation abounds as to how doomed modern consoles are (not very, for the moment).
• Vivendi plans to sell off its stake in Activision-Blizzard.  Possibly a restructuring effort, or maybe they just see Call of Duty being the next Guitar Hero, with all that would imply.
• Zynga reveals “Zynga With Friends,” and exciting new games ending with -Ville that are totally not the same idea over and over.  One’s even an “epic slot machine adventure” for extra irony.
• Yoichi Wada asserts Final Fantasy VII isn’t getting remade until they make a game that surpasses it.  My take: better get a DeLorean, ’cause we’ll need the nineties again.
• Atlus announces and defends its decision to region-lock Persona 4 Arena.  So that’s why the official forums melted down the other day.
• The EU rules that resale of digital games is legal, Pokemon Black and White 2 makes all of the money, Facebook suffers a sizable email fiasco, and more!

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – Everybody Misses the Nineties’ »

Thank you, Capcom, for making my sales predictions seem laughably premature. Anyhow, Capcom announced that Dragon’s Dogma has shipped one million copies. Mind you, that’s shipped and not sold, but it was still enough for Capcom to further announce plans to make the game into one of its major franchises. DLC updates were also suggested, although not explicitly stated at this time.

Source: Joystiq

There are weeks, even single days, that make me want to crawl into a bunker with as much food, games, and quality booze as I can manage, seal that sucker up, and hide there for, I dunno, a year or so. But then I tell myself, “I know life sometimes seems bad, but at least you didn’t sign over the Running Man to MC Hammer.”

Shame, too. It was the freshest move I’d ever seen. But enough of that, let’s get to the news.

• Yet more insanity is added to the fifty-car pileup that is 38 Studios: RBS Citizen’s Bank is suing Curt Schilling directly, and an anonymous wife of a 38S employee speaks out.
• Oh, and Rhode Island state police have launched a criminal investigation into 38S.  So has the Massachusetts Attorney General.  And the FBI.
• ICANN prepares for bidding wars on more top-level domains: .xbox, .sony, .apple, and countless others sure to bring back those timeless dotcom jokes from the late 90s.
• Sony is still trying to convince people the Vita is doing fine, though salary cuts and returned benefits suggest at least someone is taking this doom thing seriously.
• EA openly admits it would rather have a higher-price game not sell than sell more copies on discount.  Counterpoint: Syndicate is $59.99 on Origin, and $20 plus S&H on Amazon.
• Eurogamer interviews Yoshinori Ono, the man behind Street Fighter 4, whom Capcom almost literally worked to death.  Read the whole thing if you’ve got time, it’s… sobering.
• Dead Space 3 has to sell five million copies, Dragon’s Dogma sells just over half a million, I analyze what these stories have in common (read: the AAA push is killing us) and more!

Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – Burnout Gives HR Stuff to Do’ »

Really wanted a couple more ‘d’s to close that with. Anyway, Dragon’s Dogma will have a downloadable demo in North America and Europe. The demo goes live starting Tuesday, April 24 in North America and the following day in Europe.

Source: Joystiq

Yeah, I watched the Idolm@ster anime. What can I say? I indulge in the occasional weird Japanese thing. Went better than expected, although I’m not wading into the games anytime soon unless one can guarantee more box malfunctions.

Right then, to the news! This week we have the following:

• UK retailer GAME files for administration, the UK equivalent of Chapter 11.  Which means it’s game over NO MUST RESIST THE OBVIOUS PUN
• Meanwhile, Zynga buys out Omgpop, makers of Draw Something, for a whopping $200 million.  They’re gonna have to sell a lot of Zynga funbucks to make it up.
• BioWare plans “clarification” DLC for the Mass Effect 3 ending.  Forbes, by the way, has a better read on this fiasco than most games media outlets; spoilers aplenty, but give this article a read when you get time.
• Dragon Age 2 winds down as the team gets ready for Dragon Age 3.  Presumably they’re all just glad they’re not the Mass Effect team right about now.
• Speaking of dragons, Dragon’s Dogma‘s producer wants to sell ten million copies worldwide.  I’m just going to leave that there and let you picture it.
• Yet another producer, this one for Resident Evil: Revelations, tells the truth and breaks my heart about where the survival horror genre has gone in recent years.
• GameStop’s standing in retail is examined, Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition gets confirmed for the iPad, the .Hack series gets a fighting game, and more!

 
Continue reading ‘What Happened This Week – What Do You Do For Money, Hanii’ »

Capcom announced that Dragon’s Dogma will see a Limited Edition release. Priced at ¥11,990, the LE comes in a special box and includes a 16x24cm monster statue with the game. Separate from this, select retaliers will also throw in bonus cards with the purchase.

Source: Andriasang

Apart from the previously mentioned Resident Evil 6 demo, copies of Dragon’s Dogma will also include a companion book. Titled Dragon’s Dogma: The Beginning, the book features development illustrations and an original short story by fantasy writer Ryo Mizuno, perhaps best known as the creator of Record of Lodoss War. Capcom has stated the story will cover an area outside the game itself.

Source: Andriasang

Capcom has just announced that Dragon’s Dogma, their upcoming 360/PS3 open-world RPG, will see worldwide release in May: North America on May 22, followed by Japan on the 24th and Europe on the 25th. As an added bonus, both versions will include download codes for Resident Evil 6 demos. 360 buyers will be able to download said demo starting July 3; however those on the PS3 won’t be accessible until September 4.

Source: Andriasang

Boy, I have to go out grocery shopping on Christmas E…TOUCHDOWN PANTHERS! WOOOOOOO! Continue reading ‘Mass Media 12/24/11’ »

Adam Jensen: mechanically augmented supersoldier, pinnacle of augmentation technology, child of the eighties. You know it’s true.

Anyhow, got a smidge of media for you: Dragon’s Dogma and Grand Knight’s History. Check it out! Continue reading ‘Almost Mass Media 09/01/11’ »

Howdy-ho, all! Just squeezing in some media before the weekend. Bit tight on time, so without further ado here’s what we have: Class of Heroes 3DS, Disgaea 3: Return, Disgaea 4, Dragon’s Dogma, Fermi Naju 3, and Final Fantasy Type-0. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 08/19/11’ »

There’s something oddly fascinating about refreshing the stock ticker throughout the day. It’s like 2008 all over again. But enough about my weird hobbies; you’re here for the media. Here’s what we have today: Dragon’s Dogma, Final Fantasy Tactics iOS, Frontier Gate, Labyrinth Xross Blood Reloaded, Rune Factory 4, and Tales of Xillia. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 08/04/2011’ »