Our first look at Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.  Definitely following in its big console brother’s footsteps as opposed to any of the 2D entries of handhelds past.  You’ll use your combat cross to guide another Belmont, Trevor, through unholy lands, whipping the undead to death all in shiny 3D.

I was really vying for another fully 2D entry but any new addition of Castlevania is welcome — especially to my 3DS, which is currently collecting all the dust it can muster.

You think you’ve got problems?  Mega Man will always have more.

[via]

Quantic Dream Set to Unveil New Project(s) at Sony’s E3 Conference

Two months ago, the studio that brought you Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy decided to demo a seven minute reel of their latest engine within the frame of a short film centering on the assembly of a virtual intelligence named Kara that thought itself alive.  The results were astounding, but Kara’s tale was final.  Company head David Cage had stated that the demo wasn’t a preview for a game in development, which left many wondering how exactly Quantic Dream would floor our jaws next.

Now, CVG reports from a trusted source that the cerebral developer will reveal their next huge game on Monday during Sony’s press conference.  While we may only be privy to one title (which will most likely end up on the PS3 given Cage’s affection for the console), Quantic Dream is supposedly working on two separate projects that may reach as far as the Vita.

Sony themselves refused to comment on the matter but we can be sure to see something impressive next week.  Stay tuned.

Gaming Quotables of the Day: Corporate Greed Edition

What is slowly becoming common practice in the gaming industry is once again coming under fire because, honestly, it deserves to be abolished like a money draining asshole on your elbow.  What are we talking about?  On-disc downloadable content.  How do we feel about it?  Well, not great:

“Yeah, it’s just plain greed.  The answer is that simple. I think that DLC has been so successful that publishers are trying to get a jumpstart and if you put it on the disc it allows them to unlock it when they feel like it.”

-Michael Pachter, industry analyst

You can read more of Pachter’s musings on the matter here.  He gathers that while DLC will and should remain in the market, locked content’s days are numbered (we’re already seeing progress on that front).  Of particular note, Pachter questioned the legality of, say, a consumer hacking into their copy of a game and unlocking stashed away content.  “I’m not even sure that’s stealing because you did, in fact, buy the disc. That’s about as close as you can get to legal piracy.”  Next time you get into trouble for hacking into a game you bought and paid for, tell them the Pach-Attack told you to do it.

Another money racket the current generation is both simultaneously blessed and cursed with is the advent of HD re-releases — opinions are mostly skewed between Hooray-for-Nostalgia and Stop-Selling-Me-Things-I’ve-Already-Bought.  The latter encampment seems to oft win the argument especially when companies like Konami dish out horrid, buggy ports that de-improve a title’s quality.  Case in point: the Silent Hill HD Collection.

“We got all the source code that Konami had on file — which it turns out wasn’t the final release version of the games.  So during debug we didn’t just have to deal with the expected ‘porting’ bugs, but also had to squash some bugs that the original team obviously removed prior to release, but we’d never seen before…We certainly had our hands full. I think at one point Heather was blue.”

-Series producer, Tomm Hulett

So that’s why Silent Hill 2 and 3 were actually worse than I remember them a full generation ago!  All is forgiven Konami.  I can enjoy these broken, technically incomplete versions fully now that I know a lack of quality won’t stop you from cashing in on a property you’re brutally flogging.  Out of all the missteps taken, I think I actually might’ve wanted to see Blue Heather kept.

Claire Redfield by Agacross

Waiting for Link by jaimito

The Red Herb Roundup - May 27th Edition

Welcome, followers and perusing eyeballs alike, to the third installment of the Roundup.  Once again, I’ve taken the liberty of collecting, condensing, and listing news worthy happenings in the gaming world that the Herb missed throughout the week as a sort of bullet-pointed tribute to my failures as an internet blogger.  Enjoy!

• Assassin’s Creed III is coming and Ubisoft will be damned if you’re able to find an excuse not to get it.  Not only will the game launch in October for the PC and your major gaming consoles (Wii U included) but a recent online retail listing may have outed it for the PS Vita.  Take your pick.
• The ongoing legal war between Infinity Ward’s ex-chiefs and Activision revealed that the publisher had paid the Call of Duty developer $493 million in bonuses.  The ungodly amount is claimed by the plaintiffs to still not cover the wages their contracts demanded (which is reported to be enough money to grant the city of Detroit flight).
• Don’t expect to see Bungie at E3 in any official capacity.  They’re just sending guys over to drool over new games like the rest of us.
• On that note, annoying footage of what looks like Halo 4’s multiplayer surfaced.  You’ll see what I mean if you decide to punish yourself and watch it.
• Analysts think Grand Theft Auto V should have no problem selling 14 million copies.  Rockstar always knew how to profit off of crime.
• A brand new franchise in the Star Wars universe is set for unveiling on May 31st.  Lucasfilm confirmed we’ll see more at E3…Guess we abandoned Starkiller, huh?
• Yakuza 5 is happening, now with five playable characters and new improvements to gameplay mechanics like seamless transitions between adventuring and combat and I don’t know why I’m talking to America about this.
• Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection, bundling the once-Wii bound rail-shooters with new Move controls, hits PSN on June 26th for $26.99.  Should you want one game in the collection over the other (I mean Darkside), you can buy the titles individually for $14.99 each starting July 17th.
• Mass Effect 3 is getting the multiplayer Rebellion Pack next Tuesday.  The pack includes two new maps, new characters, and more weapons.  Here’s the part I love: if you redeemed the Online Pass code, the pack is yours for free, which is consistently my favorite DLC price point.
• A patent for “Game-Interrupting Advertisements” has been unearthed, filed by none other than Sony.  I can only presume the patent was filed in an attempt to ruin the fucking future.

Kojima Only Serving in a Supporting Role on Enders Project

Anticipation is swelling over the newly announced Zone of the Enders sequel, but swept under the current of fangasms is the fact that famed game designer Hideo Kojima, who worked extensively on the first two entries into the mecha series, is taking a backseat on the third game, leaving development duties such as scripting, direction, and both game and level design to his Kojima Productions staff.

Due to his commitment to the mysterious Project Ogre, Kojima specified his role would limit him to producer status on Enders, and that his biggest contribution would be overall direction and pre-production planning.  Hideo has commented in the past that this is exactly the amount of input he wanted to have on future titles, reasoning that pouring years of his life into a single project had become  horribly draining.  Hideo wanted to take this approach during Metal Gear Solid 4 before his team egged him onto a more hands-on capacity, so perhaps we’ll see his meddling despite himself when it comes to Enders Project (if someone’s willing to duct tape him to a computer).

As for the newborn Enders Project, what direction might it be taking?  Kojima assures fans Z.O.E. definitely won’t feel any different but the artistic style may end up being a far cry away from the first two games’ Japanimation vibe in favor of a more “global, high-end” styling (i.e. marketable outside Japan).  Kojima says the team isn’t striving for photorealism (even though their Fox Engine could probably handle it) but they are rendering models like the one seen above into the game, which may be indicative of the style shift.