PlayStation LifeStyle » Dead Space

Visceral Games Prepares For “Bold New IP”

Tyler Minarik — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:34:01 +0000

The talented developer behind the successful Dead Space and Dante’s Inferno franchise is getting ready to create a new IP.

Dead Space 2 only released a month ago, and Visceral is wasting no time getting ready to follow up with another new IP. Details on what the game will be are virtually non-existent at the moment, however we do know it’s on the way, thanks to a new job listing. Posted on Gamasutra, the listing is for a new Executive Producer for Visceral Redwood Shores. The EA studio will be aiming to produce yet another AAA title, making it a “bold new IP”.

Considering the past games produced, such as Dead Space, Dead Space 2, Dante’s Inferno, and Godfather, we hopefully can be expecting yet another great title to look forward to. We can’t tell if it will be as violent as previous titles, but considering the past trends, one could only hope so. Our only other clue for the moment regarding the game is that it will likely be multiplatform, with both PS3 and Xbox listed in the posting. EA and Visceral are looking for top quality candidates, with 10 or more years experience within the industry, and able to be the “person who builds and motivates the team to accomplish their goals of shipping a high quality, hugely entertaining title on time and on budget.” Hugely entertaining definitely sounds good, so you can be sure we’ll be keeping tabs on this, and will keep you informed when more information arrives.

EA CEO Talks Dead Space 3

Matt Baker — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 05:48:13 +0000

It’s a well know fact that EA’s original Dead Space didn’t quite live up to expectations on the sales front. However, publisher Electronic Arts and developer Visceral Games believed in the IP so much so that they decided to release the relatively successful Dead Space 2. The gamble to produce a sequel seems to have paid off, with the publisher’s CEO openly stating that Dead Space 3 is very much real.

Electronic Arts’ CEO John Riccitiello said that he believes the franchise will start having high sales once Dead Space 3 arrives at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference:

Right now we’ve got strong, growing franchises including Madden, FIFA… Need for Speed, Medal of Honor and Battlefield – I include them as one because we’re unlikely to ship them in any one year at the same time,” Riccitiello began. There’s also Mass Effect… Dragon Age… and the one that’s sort of not proven that’s coming later in our fiscal year, Star Wars: The Old Republic. That excludes Dead Space because I think it will probably take Dead Space 3 before we get into that five million unit cadence versus say three, four.

Are you excited by the third installment of the Dead Space series? Let us know via the comment section below. Meanwhile, creep on over to PlayStation LifeStyle’s Dead Space 2 review.

[Via]

Xperia Play Already Has A Growing Library

Joseph Peterson — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:38:43 +0000

The Xperia Play has already been announced, but there have been many questions surrounding the new smartphone. One of those being what titles will be available for the phone, well it seems that question has been somewhat answered at the Sony Ericsson Xperia Event.

There are already 50 titles confirmed for the phone, and they will include titles such as Battlefield, Dead Space, Guitar Hero, and Assassin’s Creed. It is also worth noting that the library is growing on a daily basis as more developers sign on to release games on it.

What else would you like to see released on this fantastic smartphone?

Dead Space 2 Sales Figures Impress

Adam Wolfe — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:28:29 +0000

There is no doubt that fans of the survival horror genre had a lot to love about the first Dead Space, unfortunately this did not amount to massive sales. While it sold over a million copies, according to EA “it didn’t hit expectations”. So with the series seemingly riding on the success of the sequel, EA has revealed some quite impressive figures.

Dead Space 2 just hit store shelves last week, but EA is already reporting huge sales figures. During an investors call, EA chief operating office, John Schappert, had this to say about Dead Space 2:

[Dead Space] is approaching two million units sold…. double the sell through of the original Dead Space

These numbers are quite impressive, especially since it has only been on the market for a week. Judging by the reviews scores, as well as the sales figures, it looks like this series won’t be going anywhere soon.

[Source]

Visceral Games Interested in a Potential Dead Space 3

Adam G — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 03:41:03 +0000

Dead Space 2 may still be a couple of months away, but that hasn’t stopped executive producer at Visceral Games, Steve Papoutis, talking about what could be next for the recently unmuted Isaac Clarke.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Papoutis mentioned that the team has a pretty clear idea of where they want to take Isaac Clarke next.

“We’ve mapped out where we’d like to go with it. Not at a super high level of detail. But, for instance, we’ve just released our novel, Martyr. We’ve talked about the inception of the Unitology religion. We’ve thought about it all. But ultimately, just like with Dead Space 2, we have to have the support from the players in order to do it. Hopefully the game comes out, people like it, it has critical support, and a lot of people buy it. And then we’ll get an opportunity to do another one.Nobody’s going to just let you go and do another game just because. You have to have the people that are interested in it. That was what was great about Dead Space 2. There was such an outpouring of support that it was easy for us to get the company behind it and give us the opportunity to make it. We’re working really hard to make sure this game’s better so we get a chance to do Dead Space 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 20.”

So what could they do with Dead Space 3, make it an open world perhaps?

“I don’t see why you couldn’t [take Dead Space into open world territory.] When we think about Dead Space we think of a very story driven experience. Generally speaking an open world doesn’t lend itself to that… There have been great open world games – inFamous – there are a bunch of games that have that element. But really what we’re good at is that crafted progression you’re seeing currently when we demonstrate Dead Space 2 and what you’ve seen in Dead Space.”

We’ll keep you up to date on any potential Dead Space 3 news as we get it.

ESRB Ignites the PSN Prequel to Dead Space 2

The Great Thomasio — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 08:48:10 +0000

You gotta hand it to the ESRB. Their job is to first: Play a game early before anyone else and second, tell you, the potential customer, about the game’s ’rating’ in regard to the maturity content, level of blood, or just some crazy oddball facts. The best part? They’re often hilarious and are worth a good chuckle every now and then. The ESRB has summarized and rated the PSN ‘prequel’ to Dead Space 2, Dead Space: Ignition for all of you to enjoy.

Now here’s a surprise..it’s rated M for Mature! Shocking! Here’s what the ESRB said about this DLC chapter for the Dead Space series :

This is a puzzle-action game in which players must survive an outbreak of mutant creatures aboard a space station. Players solve puzzle-based mini-games that involves hacking computers, cracking codes and circuitry. The game’s story is told through comic-book panels that have a handful of animated sequences. Some of the panels depict characters shooting monsters and aliens, resulting in large blood-splatter effects and pools of blood. Torsos, limbs, and alien entrails are sometimes depicted, along with ‘squishy’-liquid sound effects and screaming. Language such as ‘f**k’ and ‘sh*t’ can be heard in the dialogue.

The F-word and the bad word for poop in a mature rated gaming? Talk about shocking! I can’t wait to read their summary for Dead Space 2 once it becomes available…I’m sure it’s going to be ten times worse AND ten times more enjoyable than this one!

For those of you who have been keeping track at him, by simply reserving Dead Space 2 at your favorite retailer of choice, you’ll be given Dead Space: Ignition for FREE. Can’t be free, now can you?

If These Dead Space 2 Multiplayer & Pre-Order Details Don’t ‘Ignite’ your Interest, What Will?

The Great Thomasio — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:15:31 +0000

Since the day EA and Visceral Games unleashed the first details regarding Dead Space 2, fans have been wondering how the gameplay for the Multiplayer portion of the game is going to work. Thanks to the GameStop Manager Expo, details have trickled out, along with some mighty fine pre-order incentives. If this doesn’t make you want to run out and pre-order Dead Space 2 ASAP, I’m not sure what will.

Hey, I know a majority of gamers despise the ‘Evil Empire’ known as Gamestop, but you have to love how some of those Managers refuse to keep their mouths shut. Those who attended the event were presented with a trailer showcasing the hush-hush multiplayer campaign for the game which will feature… Soldiers Vs Necromorphs! You’ll actually get to control one of those crazy creatures from the series. Hopefully this means plenty of wall-scaling and air duct exploring on your way to slicing-n-dicing some soldiers.

Now on the to the pre-order incentives. For those of you who pre-order at Gamestop, you’ll receive the ‘Rivet Gun’. Here’s the real beauty: no matter where you reserve Dead Space 2, you receive the ‘prequel’ to Dead Space 2, Dead Space: Ignition absolutely FREE.

Stay tuned to PlayStation LifeStyle for any and all the Dead Space 2 news you will ever need!

[Source]

Dead Space 3 a Possibility, But Only if Gamers Want It

The Great Thomasio — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:25:55 +0000

Of all the new original IPs EA has created and published so far this generation, few have been as popular as Visceral Game’s Dead Space franchise. Released in late 2008, Dead Space went on to sell over 2 million copies, received a prequel in Dead Space: Extraction, received a comic book mini, action figures, and various other products related to the series. Dead Space 2 doesn’t hit until 2011, but that didn’t stop anyone from asking about Dead Space 3. Even IF Isaac doesn’t survive the sequel, the future is bright for this young franchise.

Speaking at gamescom 2010, Steve Papoutsis, Executive Producer of Dead Space 2, talked about how the team would love to make Dead Space 3. The catch is that for that to happen, us gamers have to want it:

I think right now it feels that [EA] is 100% behind what we’re doing, but ultimately the thing that everyone needs to remember is that we make games when people want them. I think we’re going to take it one step at a time. The development team and I would LOVE to make lots, lots and lots of more Dead Space but we’re only going to do it if people want it and if it makes sense. We don’t want to oversaturate it to the point where people don’t care and aren’t interested in what we’re doing. We’re very protective of Dead Space and we want to make everything Dead Space excellent.

Believe me when I say I only had ‘eyes-on’ impressions of Dead Space 2 at E3, yet I was still blown away at how awesome the game looked. I can say without a doubt that gamers are already thinking ‘just go ahead and make it! and we haven’t even played the sequel yet.

PS3 owners are in for a treat once Dead Space 2 arrives on January 25th, 2011. Not only do we receive the sequel but we also receive a Move compatible HD remake of Dead Space: Extraction for free. Why not make your way over to Amazon to reserve your copy before the Necromorphs devour them all?

[Source]

Want to Receive Exclusive Dead Space 2 Content? Here’s How

The Great Thomasio — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:43:36 +0000

Fans of the Horror genre were given quite a gift in 2008 when EA and Visceral Games released to the world the tale of Isaac Clarke and his on-going battle against the demonic alien foes known as the ‘Necromorphs’. After barely surviving the battle against the Hive Mind on Aegis VII, Isaac may have escaped in one piece, but his mind is in pieces. Fast-forward three years… Isaac is now on the ‘Sprawl’ space station and the Necromorph menace has returned. EA and Visceral Games are offering fans of the series a chance to receive exclusive content via email and I promise you that it’s easier than having to splice a limb off a necromorph, that’s for sure.

If you want access to an exclusive Dead Space 2 Kill clip, all you gotta do is sign-up and register on the Official Dead Space website. This isn’t a one-time only deal though, you’ll be given other exclusive content just for taking a few minutes of your time to sign-up. Not bad, eh?

You can also follow the Official Dead Space Twitter or become a fan of the Official Dead Space Facebook accounts. And while you’re at it, why not follow PlayStation LifeStyle’s Twitter and become a fan on our Facebook??

Evil returns on January 25th, 2011, and remember, the PS3 version is the Limited Edition of Dead Space 2 which includes Dead Space: Extraction for free. You could always pre-order your copy of Dead Space 2 from Amazon today!

Visceral Games Plans to ‘Sabotage’ the Dead Space Series

The Great Thomasio — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:46:39 +0000

Think about this for a minute… Dead Space is slowly, but surely, becoming one of EA’s biggest franchise along with Madden, Need For Speed, and Medal Of Honor. Sure the first game’s sales didn’t reach the numbers that they should have (EA blames the used game market), but the game has a very solid and passionate following now and EA isn’t afraid to throw plenty of tie-ins our way. Want to know what happened to Isaac after he made contact with the marker? Buy Dead Space’s second animated film, AfterMath. Writer Christopher Shy is ready to tell you the tale of what happened to the USG Ishimura after Isaac made his escape. Dead Space: Ignition is an interactive comic-book style prequel that hits the PSN this fall. Dead Space: Sabotage is..oh, wait. Hold your necromorphs. EA nor Visceral Games have announced Dead Space: Sabotage, have they? Read about this discovery inside before you get your head severed!

The super-sleuths over at Supererogatory have in the past discovered domain registrations for a bevy of video game websites. Now they have uncovered a new, chilling site… DeadSpaceSabotage.com! What could this possibly be? An actual comic book series? A PSP tie-in title? A 3DS title (NOOO!!)? Another PSN title for the series? Considering Dead Space 2 doesn’t hit until Jan. 25, 2011, we might not know for quite a while. Shucks.

Dead Space 2 was easily in our top 10 games we played at E3. Add that to the fact the only version being released on the PS3 is the Limited Edition which comes packed with the Move compatible Dead Space: Extraction gane which is being remastered in glorious HD, you should have no reason not to be excited over Dead Space 2. You better believe when any news regarding the Dead Space series goes down, PlayStation LifeStyle will be telling you all about it.

Dead Space: Ignition to Scare up PSN Prior to Dead Space 2

Adam Wolfe — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:25:59 +0000

Early yesterday Visceral Games teased an announcement on their Facebook Page for Dead Space that would be revealed sometime this week. Today we found out exactly what was lurking in the dark depths of space…

According to a press release from EA, Dead Space: Ignition will be releasing this fall on PSN and Xbox Live. This will be a prequel to the upcoming Dead Space 2 which releases in January 28th, 2011.

Here is what Steve Papoutsis, Executive Producer of the Dead Space franchise had to say about Ignition:

“The interactive comic-style game will give Dead Space fans a unique perspective on the events leading up to Dead Space 2, but will also introduce the storyline to a brand-new audience of gamers.”

Ignition will include three unique hacking mini games, and will have a unique “Choose your own adventure” style gameplay with four different ending and each ending providing you with unique objects to use in Dead Space 2.

Dead Space: Ignition is also being written by Antony Johnston the award-winning, New York Times bestseller and wrote the six-book Dead Space comic series in 2008. Antony will use his horror story-telling expertise to introduce new characters and craft new plot twists for this intriguing prequel.

The press release also states that there is more to come:

Dead Space: Ignition is the first of many exciting game extensions we have planned for the launch of Dead Space 2.

At the moment that is all that is known and nothing else is mention on what other exciting game extensions we will see.

Read the full press release on page 2 >>

Dead Space 2 E3 Impressions

The Great Thomasio — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:53:49 +0000

Even though Visceral Games Dead Space 2 wasn’t on the E3 floor, we here at PlayStation LifeStyle were invited to a behind closed doors screening on the next chapter in Isaac Clark’s battle against the Necromorphs. What did we see? Oh, just one of the Top 10 games at E3…and we didn’t even get to play it. Fans of the series get ready, Isaac is for one hell of a ride and he’s taking you with him!

Our ‘demo’ began with Isaac talking to his correspondent over his headset: We’re trying to discover exactly what the hell is going on at the Unitology hall on the massive space station Sprawl. For all you graphic whores out there, have no fear, the game looks breathtaking and it looked phenomenal on the 50” HDTV that the team was displaying it on. Add the surround sound to the ‘soup’, and Oh yeah, the game was rocking on all levels.

After being introduced to a new enemy, Isaac duns his new gear. The sweet as can be outfit that we’ve seen replaces Isaac’s old engineer gear into something that resembles a badass space warrior. He’s ready to kick some Necromorph mutated butt this time around and has some additional weaponry to help. This is where the ‘javelin’ came into play. Fire this baby at an enemy as it will slice through the enemy, sticking them into a wall, as they try their hardest to break free. The best part? Use the alternate fire when a couple more enemies walk by for a large explosion which neutralizes the whole group of them. Sweeeeet. You’ll need this because the scant 20-minutes of footage that we witnessed was non-stop action packed! The team at Visceral is aiming to make the game more intense while making you fear the dark at the same time. Good news…it’s working!

The second new ‘weapon’ is that you can now cut off an enemies limb, use kinesis on it, then launch it back at that same enemy for some massive damage. This certainly helps seeing as how there is now more enemies on-screen and less ammo to go around.

They even showcased some of the new puzzles in the game. If you remember correctly, Isaac is an engineer, so it’d make sense if he did engineery stuff, right? The man in charge needs to destroy the gravity machine keeping everything down, so he does it the old fashioned way: By ripping open the box, figuring out what cords to yank loose, then proceeds to use kinesis to figure out a puzzle which turns the machine off. PLUS the zero gravity segment showcased another feature of the new suit: little jet boosters which make the ZG moments that much easier, and fun, to handle.

Did I mention how the game is now more action packed? Near the end of the demo, a titan-sized necromorph begins to chase our hero throughout the stage. Isaac has the upper-hand…until a futuristic ship comes into view and begins to rain a barrage of bullets at Isaac, which shatters the glass, causing our hero and the ‘big daddy’ necromorph to soar into space, slamming them right into their ‘attacker’.

The battles continues and at one point, Isaac loses his grip on the ship, then begins to float out into space..but the necromorph wants more. It grabs hold of him, pulling him back to the ship as Isaac continues to battle the monstrosity. The demo ended as Isaac destroys the ship and back to safety to continues his adventure. Awesome!

Nothing about the multiplayer or the possibility of a co-op campaign was mentioned, otherwise, the only problem I had with the game was…the 2011 release date. Oh well! Seeing as how us PS3 owners receive Dead Space: Extraction with PlayStation Move controls by simply buying the game, I will wait..patiently..WITH the lights on, mind you.

Dead Space To Freak Out Sony Show; Exclusive Dead Space DLC?

Sebastian Moss — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:04:01 +0000

At EA’s press conference at this year’s E3, the mega publisher teased that Dead Space 2 will be at Sony’s conference tomorrow. After showing a short trailer of the game, they told attendees that they can expect more at the Sony conference, the next day.

What this means is yet to be announced, but what is most likely is that Sony has signed an exclusive deal with EA to bring Dead Space exclusively to the PlayStation 3, but of course, it could mean something even better.

Dead Space 2 Gameplay Trailer Will Make You Jump

Christopher Gordon-Douglas — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 10:59:57 +0000

With E3 right around the corner, EA are due to show Dead Space 2 as part of their “premier” line-up of games that are due to be released along with the likes of Medal Of Honor and Crysis 2 as well as the yearly iteration of the FIFA franchise. Since the first game in the series was released it has been gaining recognition as one hell of a horror game, with fans craving for a sequel. EA answered this demand with Dead Space 2 as they look to raise the bar on what they did with the first game

The latest trailer for this game has been released. This trailer doesn’t stop short of getting your heart pumping.

Dead Space 2 is currently scheduled for a release next year. Look forward to more details on the horror-shooter at E3.

Video Games | Dead Space 2 | E3 2010: Exclusive Debut Gameplay

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Dead Space 2 To Be More Spine Tingling

Christopher Gordon-Douglas — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:39:22 +0000

When Dead Space was released in 2008, it was met with high praise for its engrossing and immersive gameplay, stating the game was a “nail-biting experience,” driven forward by a “film-worthy” script and “inspired” setting. The sequel, Dead Space 2 looks to advance on what the original built and aims to make it more scarier and heart pumping than ever.

According to EA in an interview with PC Zone, Dead Space 2 will be scarier than the first according to executive producer Steve Papoutis.

It was awesome making Dead Space, it came out of the blue and was well received by critics and fans, It’s daunting to try and top it.
In order to be a better game, we need to step our game up in all facets – that’s the visuals, enemy designs, new weapons, tools and mechanics.
Certainly horror is a big part of that, so when we’re done with it, I hope we can say that it’s scarier. That’s a goal for us.

Dead Space 2 is shaping up nicely for its release date which is due in 2011, expect some more gameplay during E3. For all the latest news from E3 be sure to check out PlayStation LifeStyle regularly.