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Quantic Dream has revealed a new trailer for its big PS3 exclusive, Heavy Rain. Despite featuring the Japanese voiceovers, this new footage does not skimp on the epic, and makes the game look pretty bloody amazing. Drama, throat-slitting and women in tight vests are the order of the day. Oh, and shouting. Lots of shouting. 

I’m really looking forward to seeing what Quantic does with this game. It could be a huge triumph for story-driven gaming, or a spectacular failure, but it’s going to be fun finding out either way. This video’s got me pretty pumped, in any case.

Uh oh, sounds like somebody brewed up a PR nightmare. Yesterday, we ran a story on Capcom’s Antoine Seux, who said that hardcore gamers had essentially abandoned the Wii and that the future of Capcom was in the PS3 and Xbox 360. The obvious sh*tstorm this caused was noticed by the rest of Capcom Europe, who are now scrambling for a U-turn. 

“Further to comments made in a recent article on French website Gamekult, Capcom would like to confirm its commitment as a multi-platform developer and publisher of interactive software,” states the publisher, with perfect diplomacy. 

One can imagine that Seux was none too popular when he got into the office this morning. Still, regardless of how much trouble Seux may have gotten into, his comments regarding the poor performance of key titles still holds true. Like it or not, the Wii’s reputation as a shovelware platform will be hard to shake, and that’s nobody’s fault … except for all the arseholes who refuses to buy MadWorld. 

Capcom (Try To) Back Away From Anti-Wii Comments [Kotaku]

Lying hypocrite Keith Vaz is at it again. The corrupt Labor politician has once again brought up the subject of violent videogames, perhaps because it distracts everybody from his shady legal deals and questionable expense accounts. In any case, he wants cigarette-style warning labels on game boxes, and states that adult videogames are worst than films. 

“A film with inappropriate content is not interactive,” bullsh*ts Vaz. “The point about video games, which is backed up by research from America, is that the player is part of the process. Players shoot and stab people in a videogame, and that is different. I accept that inappropriate content is wrong, wherever it is found, but videogames are different.

“If a young person gets hold of Modern Warfare 2, for example, they will be asked to participate in a terrorist attack; they will be asked to shoot at civilians in Moscow airport as part of the game.”

Vaz says he’s not a fan of censorship, and that adults should be allowed to play violent games. However, he still trotted out the Stephen Pakeerah case and claimed that the young boy was killed thanks to Manhunt, despite a conclusive police report saying that Rockstar’s game had nothing to do with it.

So yes, yet more misconceptions and outright lies from Mr. Vadge. Until next time! 

Keith Vaz Warns Violent Games Are Worse Than Violent Films [Negative Gamer]

Voice actor Jon St. John set the universe straight during the Music and Video Game Festival by not commenting on his role as Duke Nukem in 3D Realms’ Duke Nukem Forever. The key here is what the blank space implies.

“I’m not allowed to speak on that subject, sir,” St. John replied when asked about DNF. He added, “Let me go ahead and tell you right now: I’m not allowed to speak about Duke Nukem Forever.” The crowd in the stuffy room booed. “No, no, don’t be disappointed. Read between the lines.

“Why am I not allowed to talk about it [DNF]?”

The need for silence on the subject might have more to do with the ongoing legal brouhaha surrounding the studio and the game rather than its ongoing development, but this world is a place of infinite and surprising possibilities. Example: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. No-one saw that coming.

Duke Nukem Himself All But Confirms Duke Nukem Forever [Pixel Enemy, via Screw Attack]

Vanillaware, best known for gorgeous 2D games such as Muramasa and Odin Sphere, has revealed an incredibly saucy piece of artwork studio founder and lead artist George Kamitani. The painting is called “The Three Graces” and can be found on Vanillaware’s splash page.

While not exactly nude (there are no visible nips or squirt-holes) we’ve covered things up a little anyway to stop people whining in the comments. If you’re not at work or your boss doesn’t care about you looking at smutty paintings of Roman and Greek Goddesses, then check out our gallery for the full whallop. 

Whether or not this hints at a new game remains to be seen. Could be that Kamitani just wanted to show off his new picture, and that’s not a bad thing at all. 

Could Vanillaware be teasing their next game? [GoNintendo]

If you saw our post about the Heavy Rain collector’s edition a few weeks ago and got excited, you better hope you’re living in Britain. Sony has confirmed that the United States will not be getting its hands on the special version of Quantic Dream’s “not a videogame” videogame. 

“We will not be carrying this in the US,” a Sony rep told VG247. Not even a diplomatic “no plans at this time.” Just a definitive, straight-up negative. Well, that just sucks. 

Heavy Rain is set to release on February 26 in Britain, and the collector’s edition will be an HMV exclusive and retail for £40. It will contain the first piece of DLC episode content, The Taxidermist. 

Heavy Rain Collector’s Edition will not be sold in the US [VG247]

At the Microsoft press conference, a tasty little tidbit was revealed concerning everyone’s favorite hyped-game-that-nobody’s-played, Alan Wake. Despite the game itself taking ten billion years to develop, Remedy is already looking at downloadable content for the game, with the story set to expand via DLC “episodes.”

The Xbox 360 exclusive will be “story-driven, like a TV series.” The game itself shall be broken into episodes when it launches, allowing an easy transition into extra, post-launch episodic chapters. It seems that Alan Wake will further its exposition in exactly the same was as the PS3’s Heavy Rain. 

Microsoft ED&D boss Robbie Bach calls Alan Wake “the TV show Lost, as written by Stephen King, and filmed by David Lynch.” Not that they’re overselling it or anything. 

I am fully aware that by posting this, I am essentially opening up any positive review of Darksiders (released this week) to accusations of pay-offs and bias. However, I don’t really care, because I just received a GIANT MASSIVE DARKSIDERS SWORD! Yes, after receiving the biggest box in the world, I opened it up to find not only my review copy of the game, but this ridiculous beast. 

The sword (known to Darksiders players as the Chaos Eater) is so ludicrous that I literally burst out laughing when I took it out of the box. Even though it’s not metal, obviously, the thing is still insanely heavy and I had trouble keeping it held with one arm for too long, even though I am quite mighty.

I’ve heard tell that a Destructoid reader may be able to win one of these bastards if they’re very lucky, but they’re going to have to tune back in to Destructoid later this afternoon to find out how. If you want your own mental sword to scare the neighbors with, keep reading Dtoid. We’ve got the hookup!

Here’s a (pretty much) direct transcript of the final moments of my recent conversation with Capcom’s Seth Killian-

Me-”There are rumors going around that March’s Mega Man 10 will have a co-op mode, and that Bass will be the third playable character. Wouldn’t that be cool? Huh? Wouldn’t it?“

Seth-”Um, yes. Sounds fun to me. I have to go now.“

Me- “…and with Mega Man 10 coming out in less than 90 days, must you continue the madness surrounding the elusive Mega Man 9 secret. Can’t you give us a good hint for a change? Is it an item, an animation, a secret area, or just a background object? I mean come on! Throw us a bone here!“

Seth- “Did I already say I have to go? Because I do. Anyway I will probably go to internet hell when I die for acting like such a tease, but no dice. I was actually thinking of spilling the beans at the launch of Mega Man 10, just so we can all move on with our lives, but I was asked not to. That said, I will at least keep my promise to acknowledge that ‘yep, that was the secret’ should someone discover it on their own…“

Here’s the thing though, he totally didn’t have to go. He really didn’t. So why’d he leave? Part of me thinks that maybe my breath started to smell (hey, it happens), and another part  thinks that maybe I was onto something with those Mega Man 10 rumors, and that Seth wasn’t ready to spill the beans yet.

So what do you think, will Mega Man 10 have co-op and Bass, or does my breath smell, or both?