Topic: Darksiders 2

[MysterD]

NEW -> 9/9/2012:
Destructoid -> Darksiders 2 sold only 247,000 copies on launch; might be over 1 million sold by now; might need over 2 mill sold to break even.

OLD:
GameSpy -> Darksiders II's PC development team apologize for lack of PC features; thinking about adding more PC features in a patch.
OWNet -> Post w/ a bunch of REVIEWS compiled.
Destructoid -> THQ sends Jim Sterling a tombstone swag w/ his name on it; DOB; and day of death (also day of Darksiders II's release) for Darksiders II.
GiantBomb -> Jason Rubin clarifies that he wants Darksiders 2 dev's to work on Darksiders IP and ALSO other interesting new IP's.
GameTrailers -> Jason Rubin wants Darksiders 2 developers to work on "other interesting games."
Joystiq -> Info on Darksiders 2 pre-orders getting upgraded for FREE to Limited Edition & info on $100 Collector's Edition.
Destructoid -> Darksiders 2 - Trailer.
G4TV -> We'll be controlling Death, who's on a mission find his brother War in Darksiders 2 - which is now planned for 2012.
MediaMindField.com -> Darksiders 2 planned for 2013.

[MysterD]

G4TV -> We'll be controlling Death, who's on a mission find his brother War in Darksiders 2.

[Xessive]

Awesome! I'm anxious; especially to see some more Joe Madureira art!

[Xessive]

Darksiders 2 Announcement Trailer

Death looks pretty badass.

[sirean_syan]

If this keeps up we'll basically have something that will fill the void left behind when the Legacy of Kain games faded away (even though we're apparently getting a new one sooner than later).

[Cobra951]

Raziel is the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture of Death.  If this turns out anywhere near as good as the first game, I'm all over it.

[Quemaqua]

Awesome!

[MysterD]

Destructoid -> Darksiders 2 - Trailer.

[gpw11]

the Legacy of Kain games faded away (even though we're apparently getting a new one sooner than later).

Fill me in please.

[sirean_syan]

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/oh-what-the-hell-lets-just-reboot-legacy-of-kain-too/3232/

[scottws]

I always wondered why Legacy of Kain faded away.  It had such a good narrative and universe.  It still amazes me that there was never a movie based on the series.

[MysterD]

Joystiq -> Info on Darksiders 2 pre-orders getting upgraded for FREE to Limited Edition & info on $100 Collector's Edition.

Darksiders 2: Limited Edition info

Don't be fooled by the fancy-dancy nomenclature, when THQ says "Limited Edition," what it's actually saying is "pre-order bonus."

All existing and future pre-orders for Darksiders 2 will be automatically upgraded to the Limited Edition version, which is just the standard version and a packed in DLC voucher.

THQ's press release describes the DLC in question, "Argul's Tomb," as "the game's first single-player downloadable content pack." It also states that the Limited Edition voucher can be used "once [the DLC] becomes available," implying that it may not be released on day-one.

$100 Darksiders 2: Collector's Ed info

[Xessive]

Darksiders II PC reqs are out:

Minimum Specs:

OS – Windows XP, Windows Vista SP1 or Windows 7
Processor – 2.0Ghz Intelฎ Core™2 Duo Processor or AMD equivalent
RAM –2GB
Hard Drive – 20 GB space free (10 GB free after install)
Video Card – NVIDIA 9800 GT 512 MB Video Card or AMD equivalent
Online Steam account
Recommended Specs:

OS – Windows 7
Processor – Any Quad-core AMD or Intel Processor
RAM –2GB
Hard Drive – 20 GB space free (10 GB free after install)
Video Card – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 512MB Video Card or AMD equivalent
Online Steam account

Pretty modest aside from the hard drive space.

[gpw11]

I'm so pumped for this game.

[Xessive]

I'm so pumped for this game.

Yeah I liked the first one a lot.

[MysterD]

Destructoid -> THQ sends Jim Sterling a tombstone swag w/ his name on it; DOB; and day of death (also day of Darksiders II's release) for Darksiders II.

No sooner had I put the finishing touches on the upcoming review for Darksiders II than this ... thing arrived. I would like you all to serve as witnesses in the event of my disappearance, because I am fairly certain this can be classed as a threat of some kind.

So yeah, that's a gravestone, made out of proper stone n' stuff. I do have to say, it's probably the classiest bit of swag that's swept this way in a while. If I'm going to get accused of being "paid off," it might as well be for a miniature chunk of rock with my death printed on it.

Anyway, Destructoid's review (and the game) goes live on August 14.

[MysterD]

Darksiders II - REVIEWS

Scored out of a max of 100
Play UK -> 80%

Scored out of a max of 10
Destructoid -> 9.0
GameInformer -> 9
GameSpot -> 8.5 -- Video Review; Written review.
GameTrailers -> 8.5.
GameStation -> 8.0
Eurogamer -> 8
IGN -> 7.5

Scored out of a max of 5
G4TV -> 4.5 stars
GiantBomb -> 4 stars

No score
Zero Punctuation

[Xessive]

Also awesome so far but has some pretty major PC issues; no graphics settings, you can change only resolutions, even then the game's UI does not scale well! With the game running at 1920x1080 the menu items and UI are distorted and pixelated. The game runs ideally at 1280x720. Considering I play it with the gamepad at a fair distance (not the KB+mouse up close position) that's not too bad.

[MysterD]

GameSpy -> Darksiders II's PC development team apologize for lack of PC features; thinking about adding more PC features in a patch.

[Pugnate]

This is the new trend. Let's just apologize like Carmack.

[Quemaqua]

Better than the usual "fuck you, you don't make us enough money". I'm all for apologies and patches versus the game remaining gimped or broken.

[Xessive]

Same here. At least some recognition of the faults is worth noting.

Ubisoft are certainly getting hit hard about Ghost Recon Future Soldier for PC. No apologies, just empty promises and the usual (as Que stated).

[Pugnate]

True. I was cranky in the morning.

[MysterD]

Destructoid -> Darksiders 2 sold only 247,000 copies on launch; might be over 1 million sold by now; might need over 2 mill sold to break even.

Uh-oh...

[Cobra951]

I passed on it because of the reported bugs.  When a mainstream review points out crashes on a console version, you know the code is shit.  There's too much other good stuff to play to bother with a dodgy game, and maybe that's the greater problem for them.  The market is saturated?

[Quemaqua]

I don't see how anyone sells games anymore. Or almost anything, really. It seems almost every medium is saturated with too much of everything these days. How does anything stand out anymore?

[MysterD]

I don't see how anyone sells games anymore. Or almost anything, really. It seems almost every medium is saturated with too much of everything these days. How does anything stand out anymore?

Excellent point.

I think that's ONE of many factors.

I also think the pricing system is broken. With plans often of a game having lots of DLC; price-drops happening on games so much faster than usual (especially on the PC); some games are just flat-out broken upon release; patches are just inevitable (for most games); a re-released Ultimate Editions later - who the hell wants to pre-order games or buy games on Day 1 anymore?
[shrug]

Of course, I didn't even mention other things - like AAA games can be so expensive to make and how piracy is just so murderous to these companies, too...

[gpw11]

Two million units to break even? 

I've been playing the game a  bit and the other part of the problem is that the game doesn't really offer that much new. It's not really a continuation of the story at all, which was one of the more compelling aspects for the sequel.  It plays more like an RPG and less like Zelda, which is also a bit less fun, at least for me.   A shame because the concept of the next two games could have been pretty badass.

[sirean_syan]

Another two million to break even game? So I think trend right now is to take a well liked but only moderately successful game, shove a shitload of money into the sequel, and then wonder why it doesn't capture the outside audience that the first didn't. The end result is the franchise gets tanked. At least it seems like they didn't do something to piss off the core audience this time around (aside from bugs/poor optimization).

[Xessive]

Given THQ's financial predicament this could be a grim foreshadowing of things to come. I certainly hope not.

[MysterD]

Another two million to break even game? So I think trend right now is to take a well liked but only moderately successful game, shove a shitload of money into the sequel, and then wonder why it doesn't capture the outside audience that the first didn't. The end result is the franchise gets tanked. At least it seems like they didn't do something to piss off the core audience this time around (aside from bugs/poor optimization).

Sounds like what happened w/ Prototype 1 and 2.

Given THQ's financial predicament this could be a grim foreshadowing of things to come. I certainly hope not.

Same here. I want Saints Row 4 and Metro: Last Light to come out...

[Pugnate]

I don't see how anyone sells games anymore. Or almost anything, really. It seems almost every medium is saturated with too much of everything these days. How does anything stand out anymore?

Boobies sell:

[Xessive]

Good news! Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition made it to PC!

Bad news! Nordic Games set up a tiered purchasing system that is pretty messy.

Here's how it's supposed to work:

-If you don't own Darksiders 2 you pay full price $30 (but it is currently on discount 20% off).
-If you do own Darksiders 2 you get an 80% discount, $6.
-If You own Darksiders, Darksiders 2 + All DLC you get it for FREE!

Nordic Games f*cked up and you only get it for free if you specifically purchased the "Darksiders Franchise Pack" on steam when it was available. It is not free if you merely own all the content but purchased it individually, you will have to fork up $6. Which is not terrible but kind a cheap shot at everyone who owned all the content before the Franchise pack even existed.

This issue seems specific to Steam only, since GOG.com have it all figured out, and if you own Darksiders, Darksiders 2, and the DLC bundle you automatically get Deathintive Edition added to your library.

So, as you can imagine, the Steam forums are ablaze with speeches about customer loyalty, corporate neglect, and human rights violations.

[MysterD]

@Xessive

I own Darksiders 2 + ALL DLC, but did NOT get the Darksiders 2 Franchise Pack.
So, for now - looks like $6 for me, if I want it.

Meh. They really should have a Darksiders 2 DLC-check as well - and give it to those who own all the D2 + D2 DLC's.

EDIT:
Also own Darksiders 1, as well.

[Cobra951]

I'd buy it for $6, but it's $30 for me.  (I own the game on the 360.)  I'm not spending that on a game I own already.  I might spend half of that for the enhancements and all the DLC (which I never bought) included, like I did with Saints Row IV Reelected.

[MysterD]

I'd buy it for $6, but it's $30 for me.  (I own the game on the 360.)  I'm not spending that on a game I own already.  I might spend half of that for the enhancements and all the DLC (which I never bought) included, like I did with Saints Row IV Reelected.

What gets me is people who own the Darksiders Franchise Pack (from Nordic) get Deathinitive for FREE, yet I have the same exact content when I bought this all separately (Darksiders 1 + 2; and ALL Darksiders 2 DLC) back when THQ owned the license.

It's pure bullcrap + nonsense.

[Xessive]

Yep, that's the crux of the argument.

Nordic Games seems to not give a crap about the loyal fans despite them constantly repeating in the forums "But we do care! We're giving you an 80% discount!" Without giving any heed to the fact 80% is the discount given to people who only have the Darksider 2 base game; contradicting their original offer.

UPDATE:

Nordic Games responds on the forums:

MegalomaniacNG  [developer] 5 hours ago

Dont ask me why but this is the options we were told are possible.
If you want to believe we are the bad guys go ahead do it. But I can tell you this is simply not true. Why would we even care to annouce it before the actual release if we are just mean and never had any good intentions.

I am again very sorry for how this appears and I totally understand your anger. So how about this - you send me a proof that you got DS2 and at least the Season pass or the DLCs that are included in the season pass (best is this page: https://store.steampowered.com/account/licenses/) and I will get you a key to get DS2DE. Just send it to support [at] nordicgames.at

So apparently a Nordic Games dev has given people the option to e-mail them directly and if they provide proof that they own all the content they'll supposedly give you a copy of DS2 Deathitive Edition.

I've e-mailed them so let's see where that goes.

[MysterD]

@Xessive

But the thing is, the guy edited the message and said to stop flooding him w/ e-mails.
They have to come up w/ something better than this.

It's pure bullcrap.

This 80% for D-Siders 2: Deathinitive at $6 is silly (which is the discount for only owning Darksiders 2). I have the same exact amount of content as someone who bought the Darksiders Franchise Pack via Steam (Darksiders 1, 2, and all Darksider 2 DLC) - and likely, they probably bought it when it was 90% off on one of those killer Steam sales. Pure bullcrap.

I do NOT have any different content than Franchise Pack owners to. I should also be getting this for FREE.

If they (Nordic) is pissed b/c I bought the entire everything separate when THQ owned Darksiders franchise and Nordic don't see a dime from that b/c I didn't buy that Nordic-sold Darksiders Franchise Pack via Steam (which has been 90% off - and likely when everybody bought the pack, so those buyers end-up easily with Deathinitive Edition b/c it's easier for Steam to do one swoop Darksiders Franchise Check there than to have Steam do a ALL D-siders games + ALL Dsiders 2 DLC check) - fine; change me $1 or something for the Deathfinitive Edition so Nordic feels like they made some money b/c I bought the games early when THQ published the damn game.

No wonder when Deus Ex: Revision came out, they charged 90% off or so for the game for everyone - just to make it easy and didn't piss anyone off. The way this tier-crap is layered-out for Darksiders 2: Deathinitive is half-assed.

[Quemaqua]

Just to play devil's advocate, you guys realize they're under no obligation to offer you any sort of discount at all, right? Like 90% of the people who sell updated or repackaged versions of games?

[Cobra951]

This fight is over $6, right?  A latte and a muffin at Starbucks?  I want to make sure I understand correctly, because it all seems like a tempest in a teapot to me.