There was a time – when he was working at Capcom, creating the likes of Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, and Viewtiful Joe – that Hideki Kamiya didn't say much. In fact, he hated doing interviews. Something's changed, because now that he's at Platinum Games, the historically low-key director is letting his true feelings out – about action games, at least.

Speaking to EGM, Kamiya said that, "I've never played Ninja Gaiden, and to be honest, I'm not that interested." Itagaki could not be reached for comment on whether or not he felt that epic burn.

So, what does the master designer actually like? God of War. "There's one game that I am paying really close attention to, that I think is a rival game, a good game, which is called God of War 3," he revealed, boasting, "I want to make a game that exceeds God of War's sequel." That game, he hopes, is his next: Bayonetta. In particular, Kamiya credits Sony's series with being "Very carefully made," saying, "Devil May Cry was a bit rough, but I think that there's no roughness in God of War." Pretty nice words, eh, Mr. Jaffe?

Their later musical crimes may keep them off of our 100 favorite artists list, but we have to admit that Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney were exactly right in the classic song "Ebony and Ivory" when they sang:

"Ebony and Ivory, shoot together in perfect harmony. Side by side in some Japanese store, replicas from DMC."

How did they know what Devil May Cry was back in 1982? We have absolutely no idea. But we like to think that Paul and Stevie would be happy to know that with replicas of the dual pistols now available from Wonder Festival, their dream of complete global racial harmony is one step closer. ... Sort of.

[Update: riot from Gamespark.jp – along with our own Andrew Yoon – let us know this listing has apparently been on Capcom's Japanese website since as far back as 2005. What's the deal, Capcom?]

Rumors that Devil May Cry would be theatrically shooting its way onto the PSP are about as old as the PSP itself. As far back as June 2005, Capcom discussed bringing Devil May Cry to the PSP along with nine other PSP titles; at that time, GameSpot wrote, "Devil May Cry [for the PSP] could see the light of day before 2006." By the time 2006 rolled around, still no sign of Devil May Cry for PSP, save for a mention on Capcom's Japanese website.

So here we are, two years on, and again we're seeing a mention of Devil May Cry for PSP on Capcom's Japanese site. Included at the top of a list of recently released and not-yet-released PSP games, "Devil May Cry" is alone in its absence of a release date, a price, or a linked website. Hit the Source link to see if it's still there or, just in case they've noticed that Dante crawled out of his cage and taken it down, we've got a screengrab after the break. Just a reminder: Capcom's E3 press conference is at 10:30ET on July 15th. Just saying ...

[Thanks, Jared; via VFH]

Following the Cannes Film Festival this past week, Bloomberg Japan is reporting that Capcom might be looking to capitalize on its hottest video game properties through various film deals. The strategy, according to Bloomberg, would closely resemble one struck by Marvel Comics years ago, where movie studios sign off on various properties, such as the already-established Resident Evil series, and potential silver-screen newcomer Devil May Cry.

Capcom reportedly was approached by several movie studios to license out their properties. According to Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto, the company hopes to announce more concrete plans in the near future. Mega Man, anyone? Here's hoping.

You know the industry's come a long way when consoles are no longer the exclusive domain of androgynous, sword-waving jackasses with glowing demon arms. Capcom has sent us a reminder that the Personal Computer version of Devil May Cry 4, the latest (and commercially successful) entry in its slash-and-shoot saga, is due to arrive "THIS SUMMER." Said version will enhance Nero and Dante's adventure by adding "new modes, enhanced graphics options and some additional content."

For those not sold on the joys of launching demons into the air and then shooting them repeatedly, Capcom will offer a demo and performance benchmark before the retail version ships.

I don't think the comparison is inaccurate given Too Human's wonderfully chaotic encounters, but I've since come up with one that more closely conveys my somewhat conflicted opinion. Too Human is very much like Mass Effect, and not just in terms of technology, grand science fiction settings and heroic bald men, but in how it presents a role-playing game within the shell of an action game.

This lovely Valentine's card came flew into our mailbox today. Who is it from? See if you can figure it out for yourself (answer after the break). Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Off the Grid reviews Ghoulash
Joystiq impressions: Lego Indiana Jones
Joyswag: Win a Cobalt Black DS with Advance Wars or Prof. Layton
X3F Week in Review: February 8, 2008 - February 14, 2008

News
Try on Patapon: demo comes to PSN today
Dead Rising, Dawn of the Dead similarities spark legal filings
Microsoft acknowledges Xbox 360 shortages in US
Disney announces Pure, plans to "redefine" off-road racing
World in Conflict console delay extends to Fall '08
No classification for Dark Sector in Australia
Xbox 360 failure rate at 16%, warranty provider reports
Nintendo announces North American Smash Bros. Brawl tournaments
'Aliens: Colonial Marines' is title of Gearbox, Sega FPS
Bored with Halo 3? Introducing X3F Community Content
GameTap severs ties with Derek Smart's Galactic Command
In-game messaging for PS3 spotted on official site
EA responds to BioWare/KOTOR MMO rumor
Nokia announces user-generated mini-games for new N-Gage
Sony execs talk backward compatibility, PS3 comeback
PSN Thursday: Demo MLB 08 twofer, Patapon
January NPD: PS3 and PS2 top 360, everyone down for the month
Far Cry movie trailer is predictably terrible
Champions Online = the latest superhero MMO from Cryptic

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: cracked Rock Band DLC reveals future songs
Analyst: Next-next-gen coming in 2010
Xboy: Ziff-Davis survey hints at Microsoft handheld

Culture & Community
A rather 'large' Smash Bros Brawl glitch
Wii hacked for homebrew, with Pong proof of concept
Team Fortress 2 Valentine's Day cards

This week marks the North American release of Devil May Cry 4 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. To celebrate, the crew at PS3 Fanboy have written a retrospective on the series as a whole. It's a good refresher for those who haven't touched the series in a long time (or ever). It also makes for a great read while PS3 owners wade through the required installation. (About 30 minutes in length, according to PS Fanboy editor Andrew Yoon.)

Concluding the retrospective is a review of Devil May Cry 4. You can browse the retrospective via the links below and enjoy our rather extensive gallery.

• Devil May Cry
• Devil May Cry 2
• Devil May Cry 3
• Review: Devil May Cry 4

If you're not too busy playing Satan's Sudoku, you may want to lend some of your time to Beelzebub's bawling buddy, Devil May Cry 4. Though rumor had it arriving a tad later, the folks at Capcom have confirmed that a demo of the extravagant actioner is due to arrive on Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network this Thursday, January 24th.

Demo May Cry will acquaint players with newcomer Nero, the franchise's third silver-haired, sword-wielding weirdo with a penchant for killing demons in spectacular fashion (that coat is snazzy!). Players will battle through several different locales and a boss encounter before being reminded of the full game's release on February 5th.

The above image used to be part of a widget available for download at deceiverdeceived.com and betrayerbetrayed.com, two official Capcom websites for Devil May Cry 4. In the picture for the widget, the date January 31 was given for the release of a demo for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (via IGN).

Downloading the widget, however, revealed no such line, and it has since been stricken from the widget image. No word from Capcom about the line. Devil May Cry 4 is due out January 31 in Japan, and the following week in North America and Europe.

[Via X3F]

The German version of GamePro (via NeoGAF) has published its review of Devil May Cry 4 and revealed some interesting features for the PlayStation 3 - namely, achievements. Similar to the Xbox Live counterpart, you'll be able to perform certain actions and earn recognition, which can then be seen by your friends.

From what we gather, this is only for DMC4, however, and not a console-wide feature, so don't expect to start bragging about your PSN gamerscore anytime soon. The idea of PS3 achievements, rumored once to be called entitlements, were denied by Sony leading up to the console's launch.

The review also confirmed Sixaxis functionality in the form of tilting to adjust the camera, and noted a 5GB required installation before you can play the game. The 1UP podcast this week also confirmed this, saying it took 25 minutes to complete the installation process, so don't expect to play the game as soon as you get home from the store.

[Update: Upgraded emphasis on 5GB installation]

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

If you can't decide which version of Devil May Cry 4 - Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 - to purchase, the official Capcom blog has posted the above GameTrailers video to indicate that there is no difference between the versions. Glibs the poster, "Well, the corporate answer is 'You should buy both and give one to a friend. Perhaps a third to put under your pillow,'" later adding, "As I've been telling people for months, there ain't no difference between the two."

One major deciding factor - load times - is not addressed in the footage. If one version takes 20 seconds to load a level and the other takes 2 minutes, then all else equal, we know which version we want to pick up.

Gaze upon the latest bundle for Japanese PlayStation 3 gamers. The Devil May Cry 4 40GB PS3 bundle comes in either black or white and includes a copy of Devil May Cry 4 (obviously) and a Blu-ray of bonus content. It will retail for 47,800 yen (approx. US $422), which is about 7,800 yen (US $69) more than the standalone 40GB model.

What makes this bundle interesting is that DMC4 is not an exclusive title. We're going to assume Sony struck some exclusive deal for bundling the game, although we'd love to see Microsoft unveil a DMC4 Xbox 360 bundle. It might actually help their hardware sales to confuse Japanese consumers thinking they just picked up a PS3. Devil May Cry 4 is due out January 31, 2008, in Japan and February 5 in North America.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Getting gifts and embarrassing ourselves while under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol are reasons enough to count down until the new year, but Capcom has given us another reason to continue to mark through days on the kitchen calender, announcing plans to release a free playable demo of Devil May Cry 4 over both the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store in early 2008.

It's unclear exactly what will be included in the demo, with Capcom saying only that the download will serve to introduce the game's new hero, Nero, and feature levels "chosen to showcase Devil May Cry 4's varied locales and allow gamers to familiarize themselves with Nero's unique abilities." The demo will also include in-game instructions on how to use DMC4's Exceed sword charge system and various superhuman abilities, made possible by Nero's "Devil Bringer" powers, and will be capped off with a fight against a surly boss named Berial. We hope the boss has insurance, because players have been waiting a long time revisit Devil May Cry, and we imagine Berial is going to buried many times before the game's February 5, 2008 release.

You simply can't barge your way through the throbbing mass of people at the Tokyo Game Show without bumping into video game characters which have somehow manifested in reality. Actually, physically bumping into them isn't recommended, as the ornate headdresses, gargantuan shoulder pads and razor-sharp hair is very likely to cause unexpected injury. With all the Clouds marching about the hallways of the Makuhari Messe center, you're likely to become trapped in a cosplay iron maiden* if you're not careful.

*Due to creative cosplay, "maiden" may in truth be "man."