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Demon's Souls strategy guide replacement program now live

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 12th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Atlus has announced that it's previously revealed Demon's Souls strategy guide replacement program is now active. If you purchased the deluxe edition and wound up with a defective strategy guide -- the defective units have "unusual cover ink wear / fading" -- then all you have to do is visit the replacement program website and follow the instructions. In short, it amounts to filling out a form and shipping off the front cover and first page of the guide. Within 8-12 weeks, players should receive a shiny new copy.

All requests have to be postmarked by December 31, 2009, so hop to it if you've got a defective copy.*

*The editors of Joystiq realize that this post doesn't include a single crack about how incredibly difficult Demon's Souls is. Please accept their heartfelt apology.

EEDAR predicts Nintendo dominance, weak GTA and Brutal Legend performance in October sales

by JC Fletcher { Nov 10th 2009 at 2:30PM }

EEDAR has released its predictions for October sales charts in North America. Analyst Jesse Divnich expects year-over-year declines for every console except the PS3 -- but also expects the Wii to regain its place at the lead, with an estimated 600,000 units sold. Divnich predicts that the Wii will remain at the top for the rest of the year -- based partly on New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Divnich expects the title to lose initially to Modern Warfare 2 in November, but pick up sales in the holidays and become the best-selling game of the year.

Other games expected to pick up in the holidays include Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City and Brutal Legend. Divnich expects both games to underperform in October (coming in at under 100,000 and 300,000 units, respectively), but to receive significant boosts in the holidays.

Demon's Souls, however, may exceed expectations. Divnich estimates that Atlus's punishing RPG sold 100,000 copies in October.

Demon's Souls director talks difficulty, sequel possibility

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 6th 2009 at 11:30PM }

Perhaps you've heard, but Demon's Souls is a hard game. Like really hard. Like bone-crushingly, soul-scathingly hard. Speaking to Game Informer, Demon's Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki explains why. According to Miyazaki, the difficulty was designed around giving players "a sense of accomplishment," specifically in regard to the soul collecting mechanic. For those who haven't played the game, souls act as currency and you lose all of them upon death. They can be regained, but only if you make it back to your bloodstain without dying twice more. Trust us, it's not as easy as it sounds.

According to Miyazaki, "If the Souls could be recovered anytime, there would be no suspense or sense of accomplishment." He added that he wants players to feel like, "I did it! I made it to my bloodstain!" Of course, Miyazaki fails to mention the sense of utter, despairing failure one feels when they don't make it back to their bloodstain (a frequent occurrence).

Regarding the possibility of a sequel, Miyazaki said he couldn't give a direct answer, but noted that the team learned a great deal on Demon's Souls and there were several things that didn't make it into the game. Given the opportunity, Miyazaki said he would "welcome the chance to create an even better game in the same style." Gluttons for punishment that we are, we'll take it.

Atlus replacing damaged Demon's Souls strategy guides

by JC Fletcher { Nov 5th 2009 at 12:00AM }

Is the print wearing off of the cover of your Demon's Souls strategy guide? It's not entirely because you've been holding it for hours with your sweaty hands, desperately thumbing through the few pages in a feeble attempt to improve your in-game performance. Atlus announced that the cover to the guide, included with the Deluxe Edition of the RPG, is conducive to "unusual cover ink/wear fading."

And because Atlus knows that you've grown attached to your ~~security blanket~~ strategy guide, the company will only ask you to send in the cover and first page if you'd like a replacement, and not the whole book. Full details on the replacement program will be posted here.

Demon's Souls to be even harder on Halloween

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 29th 2009 at 5:15PM }

The land of Boletaria in Demon's Souls will be plunged into "pure blackness" on Halloween for players connected to the internet. Publisher Atlus' announcement about its sleeper hit can be interpreted to mean that all players will have their world tendency shifted to black for the day (or a little longer), which affects enemy strength and player stats. A pure black tendency can mean that new passages and enemies may also exist.

"World Tendency" in Demon's Souls is another aspect of the challenging RPG that has a significant impact on the player's experience. If you're a new player who happens to pick up the game on Halloween ... don't panic. Yes, the game is hard, but it'll be a little bit more so with the entire world black aligned.

Atlus: More Demon's Souls shipping to retailers, deluxe edition discontinued

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 19th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Atlus USA announced today that it's deploying additional copies of Demon's Souls to North American retailers. Those who've been trying get a copy in a local brick-and-mortar establishment have likely noticed the game is pretty much sold out. The company also announced that the "deluxe edition," which included the 160-page strategy guide, will not be "remanufactured" -- good thing there's an official wiki.

Demon's Souls has quickly become one the surprise hits of the holiday season, garnering acclaim from various outlets (yes, even us, for those with reading comprehension skills) and has obviously had stronger sales than Atlus was originally expecting.

Review: Demon's Souls

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 12th 2009 at 5:30PM }

Demon's Souls is not your friend, nor does it want or try to be. Your relationship is on its terms and you can love it or leave it.

From Software's dungeon crawler comes from some sick, demented alternate plane of existence, where arcades are thriving and popping quarters into your console is how publisher Atlus recoups the costs of the game. It's a reality where Diablo was a tremendous flop because gamers have accepted masochism as the only measure for a game's quality. Demon's Souls is your leather-clad mistress and -- the worst part -- if you can withstand the pain for almost eight hours, you may, in what can only be described as a horrifying epiphany ... begin to enjoy it.

Gallery: Demon's Souls

Continued →

Demon's Souls wiki isn't going to save you

by Justin McElroy { Oct 6th 2009 at 4:15PM }

Demon's Souls, an Atlus-published action-RPG out this week on the PS3, is way too hard for you. We say this without knowing a thing about your skills and with no equivocation. If you're reading this, you're not good enough to play Demon's Souls, save for some sort of miraculous intervention.

Barring that, you're just going to have to rely on this new official wiki for the game, chock full of strategies to help keep you alive ... until your inevitable, predictable death.

Atlus says North American Demon's Souls servers not live until Oct. 6

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 4th 2009 at 1:00PM }

Are you an Atlus devotee who somehow snagged an early copy of this Tuesday's release of Demon's Souls for the PS3? If you do happen to be one of these folks, you might want to head over to the medicine cabinet and grab a chill pill, as Atlus says that nothing is wrong with the lack of connectivity to its North American servers, they just haven't been turned on yet.

Specifically, Atlus says, "What this means is that users that might manage to pick the game up early and start it up will get an immediate PSN error and have to start playing offline." Sure, you could shed a few tears and swear off the publisher forever, but look at it this way -- now you'll have two secret days of soul collecting to rub in your friends faces when the servers go live this Tuesday. Hooray!

Gallery: Demon's Souls

High praise and high action in latest Demon's Souls trailer

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 9th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Atlus isn't exactly known for big-budget epics, but that's exactly what Demon's Souls feels like in this latest trailer. From Software's hardcore RPG touts some rather unique online connectivity, and this trailer teases the functionality, along with a bevvy of overwhelming praise from various media outlets. Why no quotes from us, Atlus? Oh, that's why.

You won't get Game Over watching this Demon's Souls walkthrough

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 1st 2009 at 6:30PM }

Okay, you know by now that Demon's Souls is hard. Really, really, hard. Thankfully, watching someone else play the game is much easier than having the controller in your own hand. In this officially-released Atlus video walkthrough, you'll see what Demon's Souls has to offer, and why importers have been clamoring for its release for so long

You'll see the many options for character customization, and the importance of finding the right kind of weaponry, armor and loot. The basics of combat, and a preview of the enemies you'll be fighting are all previewed here. However, like a good tease, Atlus cuts the video before showcasing the unique online features of Demon's Souls. We'll have to wait until the next video to see that one.

Gallery: Demon's Souls

Trophies: Demon's Souls

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 15th 2009 at 2:10PM }

	1 Platinum 5 Gold 5 Silver 27 Bronze	Difficulty: Very Difficult Online Trophies? No Time to Completion: 100 hours DLC Trophies? No
	View Trophy List	Read More About the Game

Gallery: Demon's Souls

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Demon's Souls pre-order bonus gets even spiffier, 'importers devastated'

by Xav de Matos { Jul 31st 2009 at 6:00PM }

North American RPG fans have something to be even more to be excited about, as Atlus has revealed more pre-order bonuses exclusive to the region for its upcoming title Demon's Souls. Gamers who slap a down payment on the counter of their local retailer will receive a 40-page full-color art book and complete soundtrack of the game.

The Demon's Souls soundtrack features 24-tracks of music from the upcoming From Software-developed role-playing game. For gamers worried their local game store employees may forget to throw in the bonus disc, Atlus has confirmed the soundtrack will be secured into the back of the art book. If you're looking forward to Demon's Souls -- and let's face it, you are because it includes two of your favorite things (Read: Demons & Souls) -- you may want to check this offer out.

Gallery: Demon's Souls

Demon's Souls' unique online mode explained

by JC Fletcher { Jul 24th 2009 at 3:30PM }

The online mode in Demon's Souls differs significantly from the online modes in most games. One tiny difference, for example: you don't actually play with other people most of the time. You know, little details like that.

Atlus's latest Demon's Souls blog post describes the inventive online mode, which shows other players in their own single-player games as "shades, non-corporeal entities fading in and out of your plane of existence." The only time players can actively assist other people is when dead, as "spirits." Spirits can interact with other players in order to regain their lives, either by helping to defeat a boss, or by ... killing the other player and stealing their life.

Players can also see the deaths of other players by examining bloodstains left at the locations where people have died, and can read messages left for one another.

Demon's Souls wanders without European publisher

by Andrew Yoon { Jul 7th 2009 at 2:30PM }

It was surprising to see Demon's Souls announced for US release. The hardcore dungeon-crawling RPG is guaranteed not to sell much, thanks to its emphasis on old-school gameplay. Regardless, it has its niche, and we're certain there are many that want to play it.

Unfortunately, Demon's Souls is without a publisher in Europe. Sony Computer Entertainment publishes it as a first-party title in Japan and Asia, but opted to not pursue a worldwide release. The American rights were picked up by Atlus, a company that has no official presence in Europe. Sony told Eurogamer it had "no plans to publish [Demon's Souls] in Europe at present". Koei and Ubisoft, publishing partners of Atlus and From Software, also commented that there are "no plans," or are unaware of any plans, to bring the game to the European audience.

While a publisher may be announced in the future, it seems as though Europeans may have to rely on PS3's region free capabilities and import Demon's Souls when it releases in America later this year.