Disrespectful bespectacled witch spectacle news now, with Platinum Games expressing the desire to release a demo for its “non-stop climax action” game, Bayonetta. Speaking at a demonstration event in Japan, producer Yusuke Hashimoto told Famitsu (as translated by Andriasang and hilariously mangled by Google) that the developers had already begun constructing a demo in earnest. Hashimoto hopes to provide a snippet of content not merely taken out of the full game, but devised to entice even existing owners.

Said owners will mainly start appearing in Japan this October, when the game is scheduled to launch on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 — well before the North American release in January 2010. You’ll probably want to read our hands-on impressions before you get your hand on it.

Bayonetta demo will give you a taste of ‘non-stop climax action’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a recently posted except from a GamesCom 2009 interview, Quantic Dream’s David Cage told G4TV that multiple playthroughs of the upcoming Heavy Rain could “kill the magic of it.” Cage’s hope is that players approach the title as they do life — with no second chances — but the dev understands (and accepts) that players will eventually attempt to relive the experience.

“The right way to enjoy Heavy Rain is really to make one thing because it’s going to be your story. It’s going to be unique to you. It’s really the story you decided to write.” While Cage is fine with players going back to experience the title multiple times, we have a sneaking suspicion that Quantic is working on an Inspector Gadget style self-destruction feature for Heavy Rain’s retail release.

Cage: Multiple playthroughs of Heavy Rain could ‘kill the magic of it’ originally appeared on Joystiq Playstation on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know — it’s tiresome hearing about “DLC” when we’re still waiting on “regular ol’ C” — still, our interest was piqued by the mention of possible downloadable content for Final Fantasy XIII in a recent RPG Site interview with Squeenix’s Motomu Toriyama and Yoshinori Kitase. According to Kitase, the developer is “exploring the option of downloadable content, perhaps adding new areas, items or enemies.” He went on to add that any DLC wouldn’t expand the game’s story — that’ll be completely contained within the core game.

Our hope is, as ever, that any potential expansion for the game will finally add that Final Fantasy kart racer mode we’ve been waiting on ever since — wait, they already did one of those? Get out of town!

[Via VG247]

Final Fantasy XIII might get DLC, no story expansions originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Backwards compatibility is back … sort of! SCEA has announced that the PlayStation 2 God of War games will be coming to PlayStation 3 on a single, HD-enhanced Blu-ray disc. Previously hinted at in a consumer survey, the God of War Collection will feature “reworked” versions of both games, running at 60 frames per second and 720p resolution. The port is being handled by Bluepoint Games, the team behind the PSN-exclusive shooter, Blast Factor. Hopefully, the games will be more than simply upscaled, giving original PS3 owners a reason to partake in the double dip. Update: And yes, it will have Trophies.

The Blu-ray collection will be available this “holiday season,” and will cost $39.99 — the same price as buying both of the games on PS2. This HD remix should give fans some time to practice Kratos’ moves before God of War III completes the “triology” (oh, press release typos!) in March.

[Thanks, Rob H.!]

God of War Collection coming to PS3 this holiday originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were moved — genuinely moved! — by Terminal Reality’s efforts to improve the lackluster visual quality of the PS3 version of Ghostbusters with a recent patch. However, while the implementation of multi-sampling anti-aliasing and a slight bump of resolution make the PS3 title look prettier than its launch iteration, a recent Digital Foundry comparison came to a startling conclusion. Even post-patch, the game fails to deliver on its promise of 720p resolution or equality with the 360 version of Ghostbusters.

The Eurogamer-hosted blog has a few enormous image comparisons for the pixel-counters among you. We’re not experts on visual fidelity (What’s an alias? Why must it be anti’ed?) but we do know that we are owed. Does one penny per missing pixel sound fair to you?

Ghostbusters PS3 patch is close to 720p, but no cigar originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tokyo Game Show attendees will have one fewer giant line to contend with this year: Square Enix will not run its traditional “Closed Mega Theater,” during which new trailers are debuted. Producer Tetsuya Nomura told Famitsu (as translated by Andriasang) that the company is putting its efforts into promoting games that are coming out sooner, which means playable demos instead of giant trailers for distant games.

The focus on playable and near-future titles also means that Square Enix won’t be showing games like Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, and The 3rd Birthday — all of which appeared in trailer form at the last TGS, but still aren’t playable. Instead, trailers for a few upcoming games will be shown to attendees who play the demos for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (coming this winter!) or Final Fantasy XIII.

Nomura: No Closed Mega Theater at TGS, but playable FFXIII, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell’s website is basically always the cheapest way to get a new console, as the company frequently offers 15% off coupons that can be applied to console purchases (as well as “computers” or whatever). That discount is always wonderful, but it’s particularly exciting right now, what with the launch of the new PS3 Slim. Use coupon code 6FWJ247J1P44CK and your PS3 Slim will cost just $254.

The coupon code also makes for the best Xbox 360 deal yet. A post-price-drop Xbox 360 Pro sells for just $212 on the site. That’s almost Arcade-price for a console that you can use! Or if you need an Arcade to replace a busted Pro or something, it’s $170.
[Via Slickdeals; thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Dell coupon slims down prices on new console SKUs originally appeared on Joystiq Playstation on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From the dudes being shot in line to the comically large taxis, everybody loves the excitement of a new console launch. But Rich Hilleman, the chief creative officer of EA, says you shouldn’t expect similar events in the immediate future. Speaking at the Hot Chips conference in Stanford (via VentureBeat), Hilleman predicted that the current economic climate would better foster smaller updates to existing gaming systems, especially in the face of growth in digital distribution.

“I expected we’ll see a PlayStation 3.5 before we see a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 560 before we see an Xbox 720,” he said. “The biggest shift is how fast packaged goods games are changing and going away.” Hilleman also added that gaming’s future has more to do with Korea than Japan. Isn’t it nice that EA and Blizzard can agree on something?

EA’s Hilleman expects console growth to be iterative originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Now Playing: August 31 - September 6, 2009

Now Playing: August 31 - September 6, 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we read on superannuation that Sucker Punch was looking for a lead character artist — one that “should be aware of current urban style and street fashion” — we, like you, thought, “Oh, that’s nice, Sucker Punch is making another inFamous game.” But, since we’re professionals, we went beyond our first instinct to see what else we could come up with. We then decided that we were pretty sure about the inFamous thing after all.

So remember, if Sucker Punch is making a sequel to Marc Ecko’s Getting Up (which has got to be called Marc Ecko’s Going Back to Bed) or a new Jet Grind Radio, you saw the possibility roundly dismissed on Joystiq first.

Sucker Punch looking for an artist hip to ‘urban style’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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