devil may cry 4 posts (Subscribe to this feed)

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.

Turn your volume down, now! Unless you want to hear the incredibly loud sounds of E3 sprinkled with some DMC4 music, we're just warning you. Of course, there are more than one new trailer for Devil May Cry 4 up at Gametrailers, but we're just giving you a small taste of what the latest build of Capcom's title looks like. It looks very smooth, but still lacking that signature difficulty. By all means, the guy playing the demo should be getting his bum handed to him, since he's not playing that expertly. On the other hand, the enemies are all very simple and basic too, so perhaps Capcom is saving the more extreme enemies for the more extreme crowd -- those who buy the game.

And so starts the promised E3 Bringing it Home Marketplace content with a few Devil May Cry 4 downloads. Available for the picking today is the HD DMC 4 trailer featured at last year's Tokyo Game Show, a theme, and a set of DMC 4 gamer pictures. The five gamer pics feature Nero, Dante and Kyrie and will run you 100 Microsoft points while the theme will set you back 150. Keep your dial tuned into X3F as we'll be keeping an eye on all the Bringing it Home downloadable goodness throughout the next few days.

Capcom's latest financial report, which also revealed the less-than-spectacular Lost Planet and Dead Rising sales in Japan, has a curious absence from their lineup for the upcoming financial year: Resident Evil 5.

Unless the publisher is planning on making a surprise announcement, it is unlikely we'll see the sequel until next fiscal year beginning April 2008. We have contacted Capcom for an official statement.

The report listed Devil May Cry 4 and both Resident Evil Wii titles (RE4 and Umbrella Chronicles) as upcoming major release, with DMC4 expected to sell 1.8 million units worldwide.

[Via EuroGamer, PS3 Fanboy]

Famitsu Xbox 360, an obviously 360-centric publication of the Japanese Famitsu magazine, recently got a short interview with Devil May Cry 4 producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi. They finally got the answer everyone has been arguing over: why did DMC4 go multiplatform? We're satisfied with the answer, so we'll outline that along with other queries asked below.

• About the move toward multiple platforms, Kobayashi said "We're using an engine called Framework for development, and it's extremely easy to have a multiplatform strategy including the PC. You can say that Devil May Cry 4 is the first such offering. With the increase in platforms, we have the chance of more people being able to play the game, so we're also happy as developers." The strong name of the game overseas help, too, he said.
• The game is definitely built originally on the PS3 and ported to other systems (which will yield better ports to other systems and easier for the developers). Kobayashi said that "we've just started with the Xbox 360 version following the announcement, so there's still a ways to go." If the PS3 version is nearly complete, can't we just get it now? We wanna play.
  
• The content, as we've said before, will be the same across platforms. Minor graphical differences may exist, plus the PS3 can install the game onto the hard drive, but the game will play the same regardless. Kobayashi laments, "We wanted to avoid arguments about which one is better."
• The game will indeed run at 60fps. Kobayashi actually claimed keeping to that goal has proven to be one of the biggest challenges in developing for next-gen consoles so far.

Finally, we've been told to expect an advanced build of the game at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show in September. It wasn't made clear if it will be any specific console build, but we'd anticipate a booth for both the PS3 and 360 versions of the game. Not for comparison purposes, but just to show how they're progressing. So they say.

Capcom has released the first gameplay footage of Dante from Devil May Cry 4. If you don't know, the protagonist featured so far is in fact Nero, though he bears a striking resemblance to Dante. Among other things, Dante has duel-wielded pistols, which are so popular with the kids these days. The clip is very short, but it does showcase some pretty nifty maneuvers for Dante. We like the upside down, spiraling double guns in particular. Check out the video and a new gallery after the break.

A brand new trailer made available by Capcom gives the new hero, Nero, some rest while franchise poster boy Dante flexes his muscles and busts out some cool moves in the upcoming Devil May Cry 4. While I've recently been lost in the insanely difficult DS title Etrian Odyssey, my mind has often wondered as to whether this title will retain the difficulty set by the third entry. If you don't like tough games, you shouldn't climb into the ring. Hopefully this game will be tough, but not so hard as to turn people off of getting into the fight. If for some reason you can't see the video above, please check it out at its hosted site.

Also of note is that Peter Dille, Senior Marketing VP for Sony, announced that DMC4 was built for the PlayStation 3 hardware then ported down to other systems. Someone else said that if games were started on the PS3 and ported elsewhere, quality would not drop and the PS3 version would look spectacular. Good news for us, then!

[Thanks a lot, Cagalli!]

Well, the big hush-hush sign over Sony's Gamer's Day has been lifted and we've got a plethora of galleries for you to check out. Dubbed Gamer's Day Galleries, you'll know exactly what you're getting into. This first gallery has a few gorgeous high-res shots from Devil May Cry 4 -- nothing surprisingly new, but they're great to look at. Smooth, gigantic bosses, fast-paced action ... this game's got it all, if you like that sort of thing. Everyone that has read this site for more than a day know my feelings about the DMC franchise, so of course I think these screens look great. Look for the game by the end of the year, probably October.

PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.

Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to the VIDEO folder. These high resolution 480x272 videos require firmware 3.30 or above. (Note: OE custom firmware will also play these videos.)

Comparisons, comparisons, why always with the comparisons? Because they matter. As a child may persist in asking, why? The answer... they don't. If enjoyment is gleaned from a game, does it really matter that the wall textures aren't quite as smooth, or the characters aren't as freakishly shiny? Nick says, "not really". But then again, Nick doesn't own any other next-gen consoles besides the PS3 (he has his reasons, it actually has nothing to do with "fanboyism" or "loyalty").

Third-person rants aside, Devil May Cry 4 is inevitably going to get compared between the 360 and PS3 versions. Capcom ensures their rabid/adoring fans that the two builds will be "pretty much" identical. An anonymous dev said: "As far as the Xbox [360] and the PS3 are concerned, the capabilities and the features in the game, we expect will be the same. Our plan is to pretty much make them identical. You may be able to use some of the functionality in the PS3 as like a switch, but nothing spectacular." Let's see what the game is like by the end of the year, hmmkay?

Speaking to IGN in a video interview, Devil May Cry 4 producer, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, dropped some interesting info. Firstly, he describes the game's lead character, Nero, and his weapons -- a big sword called the Red Queen and a revolver called the Blue Rose. That's all well and good, but the real sound bite concerns the game's multiplatform status. Regarding the disparities between the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Devil May Cry 4, Kobayashi says, "Our plan is to make them pretty much identical."

In the unending flame war of console superiority, this is quite a statement. Kobayashi notes that there may be some functionality in the PS3 version not included in the 360 version. The statement is poorly translated though, so we're not exactly sure what that functionality will be (motion control, perhaps?). At any rate, the upshot is this: if you have to play Devil May Cry 4, you might as well do it for $200 less, because you won't be missing anything on the Xbox 360.

[Via Joystiq]

A huge amount of tasty Devil May Cry 4 media has hit the intertubes today, and we got it right here for all the Nero lovers out there. First up is an absolutely huge gallery of screenshots and artwork from the increasingly S-S-Stylish action game:

Joystiq Gallery: Devil May Cry 4

Next, we got three awesome video clips that were just released as well. Click the jump to check them out!

Well, we feel included by hearing about an exclusive hands-on of Devil May Cry 4. After the week long stint of DMC4 news, what else could be discussed other than some hands-on impressions? Well, they've got a lot to say, but we'll keep it as short as possible just because we know you've got a lot to do on a Sunday.

• The gameplay has gotten so finely tuned and sharp that it was instantly gripping while remaining challenging.
• Some things don't feel next-gen about the game (at least, this early demo): the whole "kill all the enemies in the room to magically unlock the seal on the door" is a little worn-out.
• The most important aspect of the game, at least with Nero, is the Devil Bringer. It completely changes the shoot/slice formula... being extremely responsive and refined doesn't hurt. And charging up your sword by throttling it like a motorcycle is neat, too.
• The artificial intelligence is supposed to be top-notch, but not in the demo they played, apparently. Although it was more of a tutorial level, making the enemies dumb, they didn't exhibit much advanced AI.
• Boss battles? Still intense and difficult. Failing only makes you want to defeat the monster more!
• Crossing levels swiftly via the Hell Bound teleport move may portend a more engrossing exploration element in the final build.
• Dante is ready to fight -- he's got his skills from Devil May Cry 3 as well as instant weapon-swapping. But only the developers got to show him off.
• But what makes the game fresh? "This is a game made by a man who cut his teeth on fighting games, and combat is the number one priority here. Throwing an enemy up into the air, slashing it with a sword, following that with a few quick shots and yanking and slamming it back into the ground is extremely addictive. The Devil Bringer is fully integrated - essential - to the combat, and is the key to what makes DMC4 feel fresh. The graphics, of course, are packed with detail and flash"

That's it for the week of Devil May Cry 4. We stretched it out a little longer, but whatever. Now, we'd love to hear about the trophies they have planned for Home. Who wouldn't want a life-sized statue of Dante for beating the game with all S-ranks? I'd take that over some worthless line of text telling me I "achieved" something anyday.

Thursday's update in Games Radar's all-week-long Devil May Cry 4 coverage held a video interview with director Hideaki Itsuno. He talked about his vision of the game and also a few other details we'll give you below. But watch the video. You get to see, pretty much, the entire first stage of the game.

• All the animation, battle options, whatever... couldn't be done for the PS2.
• They are fully taking advantage of the space available on Blu-ray as well as the PS3's standard hard drive. Installing the entire game on the hard drive will be possible and they'll compact the game as best they can to make that install as quick as possible.
• 60fps is the chosen option because the characters are so quick. While it makes the graphics nicer, the speed of gameplay is key. Having only 4 frames to choose an action is a much better choice with 60fps. So he says.
• Itsuno says the only game similar to Devil May Cry is Ghosts N' Goblins. The difficulty, twitch timing reactions... sounds about right.
• The Catch-22 of Japanese game development, as told by Itsuno, is that to get the budget to make a great game, it needs to appeal to a worldwide audience. This is probably why we don't see a lot of Shadow of the Colossus games, or artsy/niche games in general.

Along with Hideaki Itsuno, they interviewed Matoko Tanaka, the level designer as well as the artist who thought up Nero, Tatsuya Yoshikawa. Both of those are also very entertaining -- give them your time. If we tried to sum their interviews up, too, this would be way too long. So we'll leave those two to you!

[thanks for the reminder, Cagalli!]

Nero actually loves going to a gala. All badasses do. Thus, on Wednesday, we are introduced to the specialties of Devil May Cry 4's main character as well as some of the bosses he'll be testing his skills against. Let's go!

So... they pretty much go over the controls for Nero. It's good to know, so we can imagine how the actual fighting will play out in our minds (for those who prefer playing games in their mind). Besides the general attack buttons, you have a gauge to power up that's separate from the standard "devil trigger", the ability to launch yourself long distances by using your crazy arm to snag blue spheres (in addition to grabbing enemies and throwing them all sorts of ways). It really sounds like the dev team has been trying very hard to make the new method of attacking flow with the established attacks. We're interested.

The other bit added to Wednesday's update is a run-through of all the main bosses you encounter in the previous Devil May Cry games. They did all right -- Nelo Angelo, Vergil, etc... but they missed one boss that was pretty important and just would not die. That crazy lava spider from the first game! It wouldn't leave you alone. Ever. Why was he important? No real reason, it's just what I think of when I try to recall how difficult some bosses can be.