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Why Robin Makes Batman Better Publisher Deep Silver is teaming up partners GSC Game World, Ascaron Entertainment, and Game Life to form a rather impressive presence at the Games Convention 2008 next week. On the more hardcore side of things we’ll see a definite slant towards PC gaming, with the adventure game Secret Files 2 – Puritas Cordis, Piranha Bytes new RPG Risen, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, and X3: Terran Conflict, along with the Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for the PC, PS3, and 360 and their Wii survival horror game Curs3ed Mountain.
They’ll also be showing off a range of family-friendly DS titles, including their Let’s Play line (Let’s Play Teacher, Let’s Play Vet…Let’s Play Doctor, perhaps?), along with two pet sims from Game Life – Horse Life and Baby Life. Okay, so a baby isn’t technically a pet. They’d just be much more enjoyable if you treated them as such. “Honey, did you let the baby out?” See? Much more entertaining. Hit the jump for more details on Deep Silver’s line up!
While we knew the sequel to Ascaron Entertainment’s 2004 PC action RPG Sacred was coming to the Xbox 360 and PC later this year, those sneaky developers have just revealed that they’ve been working on a version of the game for the PlayStation 3 for the past year.
“Role-playing game enthusiasts have always been strongly represented on the PLAYSTATION® platforms, and we are delighted to offer a version of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for the PlayStation® 3″, said Heiko tom Felde, Managing Director of ASCARON ENTERTAINMENT GmbH. “We’ve been working on this version for more than a year, and can now proudly reveal it and its new features, to an entirely new audience”.
Featuring enhanced graphics and controls designed from the ground up around the PS3 controller, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel could be a lovely bit of relief for RPG-starved PS3 owners.
And that’s not all! A change of offices is also planned, with the local software distributor shifting operations from Lane Cove to Baulkham Hills.
Red Ant deals primarily in commercial applications, budget games and edutainment titles, so if you haven’t heard of them before, don’t feel like you have to neck yourself in shame. Of note, the company handles the local release of games for Ascaron (Dark Star One, Sacred), Deep Silver (Everquest 2: Echoes of Faydwer, Mage Knight Apocalypse) and Cenega (UFO Afterlight).
We’ve provided the old (left) and new (right) logos above for comparison. The new one would so totally eat you if you met in a dark alley. The other one would just give you some scones. Ant scones.
Ascaron’s Diabloesque Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, once slated for a Q1 2008 release, has now been officially pushed back to September 2008. In a post on the game’s official website, the company explains that the game is being delayed in order to make it the best damn Sacred 2: Fallen Angel it can possibly be. An extension of the development process was necessary in order to ensure that we realize all the development plans and ship both PC and Xbox 360 versions with the best possible quality and stability.
In other words, it wasn’t done yet. The post appeared on the site on Christmas day, which makes it a dubious sort of Christmas present for fans of the game or German symphonic fantasy metal.
Release Date Update [Ascaron]
Blind Guardian is a German symphonic fantasy metal band that’s been around for over twenty years, who find inspiration in the works of Tolkien, Stephen King, and Michael Moorcock. Having lived in fantasy worlds since its inception, the members of the band now get to appear in one, as a special partnership between the band and Ascaron Entertainment has been announced. Xbox 360 and PC title Sacred 2 will feature both cameo appearances by Blind Guardian and an all-new track recorded especially for the game. “We are very proud of the cooperation with ‘Blind Guardian’ and look forward to providing the band with a virtual stage in our game. For many years I’ve been a big fan of the band, and I’m sure the new SACRED 2 – Fallen Angel-themed single will be a hit with fans too”, says Holger Flöttmann of ASCARON.
Sounds like a bunch of kids making each other’s dreams come true, doesn’t it? Sweet. Hit the jump for more details on this match made somewhere in the Misty Mountains.
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel developer Ascaron is one of Germany’s leading game developers, so you know they’re going to be rolling up on Leipzig in style. Not only are they staging a worldwide exclusive test of the multiplayer aspects of their latest action RPG, they’ve constructed a 150m² arena separate from their main booth for visitors and press to battle it out on. Preregistered contestants will be ushered from a briefing room to the arena floor accompanied by fanfares as they take their seats and compete for exclusive prizes. If you are among those lucky enough to be attending the 2007 Games Convention, hit up www.sacred2.com to sign up for a slot. Everyone who enters receives a GC T-shirt, a copy of the original Sacred, a 5 Euro Wirecard voucher and a Sacred novel. Exactly the sort of thing that made the old E3 so much fun!
