In the beginning of Dragon’s Dogma, you are immediately confronted by a dragon that rips out your still-beating heart and flies away. Your quest is to track down the dragon and discover why he stole your heart and why you can still hear his voice echoing in your head.

At PlayStation’s E3 livestream, Product Manager Mike Schmitt gave a live demo of our E3 build of Dragon’s Dogma. The dragon rears its head, breathes a spout of fire and flies off, paving the way for an intense battle with Orcs and Harpies. It also introduces the Chimera, a monstrosity that combines the attributes of a serpent, goat, and lion. The E3 demo introduces the gameplay concept of “pawns,” or computer-controlled companions that aid you in the fight.

Dragon’s Dogma is not an RPG. The development team has previously masterminded the Devil May Cry games, Resident Evil 4, Killer 7, and many more. This team likes action, and that fact shines in Dragon’s Dogma — a game with fast, stylized combat in an open world filled with massive beasts. This is Capcom’s first open-world game and is powered by the powerful in-house engine MTFramework, responsible for other PS3 games including Resident Evil 5 and Lost Planet 2. That allows us to have an open world without sacrificing the graphical quality you expect from Capcom games.

Aside from the fast action, we’re also introducing new mechanic that adds an extra dose of mayhem. At any time in the game, you can grab enemies, large or small, and interact with them. If it’s an Orc, you can grab him and slay him. Once he’s dead, you can pick him up and use him as bait to lure a soaring Griffin to the ground. When the Griffin lands, you’re able to tackle the beast and start stabbing. When it takes off, hold on for dear life. Eventually, you’ll set fire to the Griffin’s wings, sending you and the beast crashing to the ground.

Check out gameplay videos of the Chimera and the Griffin on Capcom-Unity.com, and look forward to more information soon! Dragon’s Dogma releases for the PS3 in early 2012.

Capcom’s own Wes Phillips swung by to do a live demo at PlayStation’s E3 livestream. Wes also discusses special guest Cole from inFAMOUS, our exclusive bonuses for the PS3 and PS Vita versions of Street Fighter X Tekken! During E3, top fighting pros and newcomers alike stormed our E3 booth for hours of furious fights, leading to tons of feedback. It’s a blast to jump right into Street Fighter X Tekken and start exploring, but the mechanics we’ve shown are far from complete. With each new build you can expect to see something different, from mechanics to characters.

Additionally, we made another announcement at E3 for you European fighters. We’re going to be running several fight clubs throughout Europe this summer, giving you a chance to get your hands on the newest builds of the game, meet the legendary team building it, and even stars from the fighting community.

We’ll be pumping out news on Capcom-Unity.com, so be on the lookout in the next few weeks!

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is just around the corner. It’s hitting the shelves on this Tuesday, June 23rd. I’ve talked a bit about the game previously when we released the demo a few weeks back, and now you get the chance to dive into one of the most immersive PSP games available.

Monster Hunter is a game packed with variety. As the name states, you’ll be hunting and slaying all various kinds of monsters in the areas around your home, Pokke Village. There’s so many different monsters that I’ve lost count. And you’ll be in a vast and varied landscape of deserts, jungles, swamps, mountains, caves, snow, active volcanoes, and more. Your character can be customized in just about anyway possible, down to even the sound of their voice. Taking pieces of the monsters you’ve carved off, and items you’ve gathered in the world give you the means to create thousands of unique pieces of armor and weapons. With so much to customize, you’ll probably never run into anyone with the same setup as you.

Being that the game is so large, you’ll never run out of things to do. There’s literally over 500 quests to go on, and you can even take three other friends with over AdHoc. In fact, the game is really built on bringing friends with you on the hunt. It’s a blast working as a team to bring down monsters that would seem insurmountable alone.

If you do decide to take on the monsters alone, we’ve implemented a great new AI partner to accompany you on your quests: The Felyne Fighter. They come along with you on your quest and can help you fight the monster, gather materials, and even help you lure monsters into traps. You can level the Felynes up and give them new skills, and even have more than one to choose from for bringing with you.

Also, for all of the fans out there that have been playing Monster Hunter Freedom 2, you will be happy to know that you can transfer your character over and keep all your hard earned work. In addition, we have drastically reduced the load times for Monster Hunter Freedom Unite with the new media install function, which means more hunting and less waiting.

This is all but a small fraction of what Monster Hunter has to offer. There’s something for everyone, whether you like swords, guns, or even a mix of both! Snag the demo on the PlayStation Store, and look for it in stores on June 23rd!

Have fun hunting!
Shawn

You’ve already heard about Monster Hunter coming to the west as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. If you’re new to the vast world of Monster Hunter, we’ve got some great new things to help you better understand what this game really has to offer.

First, the official demo will be live today (once the PlayStation Store is updated – keep an eye on the PlayStation.Blog) and loaded with brand new monsters. There’s three quests to choose from: Hypnocatrice, Plum Hermitaur, and an Epic Hunting Quest with three monsters to slay. Aside from new monsters, there’s also pre-made characters for each weapon type to choose from. Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword, Dual Blades, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Lance, Gun Lance, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun, and Bow… They’re all there. We’ve crammed as much into the demo as we could. You’ll be hunting in the forest, the desert, and in the swamp.

Monster Hunter just wouldn’t be the same without co-op, so the demo is fully capable of four player ad-hoc co-op! The demo isn’t going to just leave you to fend for yourself if you aren’t playing ad-hoc. If you play single player, you’ll have your choice to bring one of three Felyne Fighters with you. There’s Kota a Melee Fighter, and then there’s Ginger a Bomber, and finally Melody a Support type.

Now that you have a chance to finally hop into MHFU, we have a brand new set of videos coming to teach you some basics about hunting. Check out the first video right here!

There will be 3 more tutorial videos to come soon. You’ll be able to snag these videos online via the PSN so you can take the tips they offer with you on your PSP. In all, there’s going to be nine videos total for you to grab on PSN before the game launches.

And finally, we have one more tool to help you start your hunt: The Encyclopedia Gigantica. It’s focused on the community, and gathering all the knowledge from fans like you in a wiki style. Right now there’s not much in it, and the tools to add information about the in depth details of Monster Hunter will be coming around the E3 timeframe. Once that’s available, you’ll find much information about the world of Monster Hunter, including everything from the basics all the way to pro tips from other hunters who’ve contributed their own experience. Check it out right here!

And remember, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite hits shelves on June 23rd!

Good hunting!

For those new to the series, the controls can seem a bit different than you may expect. The RE brand has always forced you to take your time, stop while shooting, and conserve your ammo. It really helps add a sense of tension a normal shooter can’t offer. But to help those who are new to the world of RE, we have new control types that ease things up a bit. My favorite is Type A, which is probably best if you’re a fan of the previous games, especially RE4. Next on my list is Type D, which I find myself loving more and more. Type D is best if you’re new to the game, and it offers something the others don’t… Strafing! May seem like a simple thing, but in a game as tense as RE5, it can really help in those situations where you have little time to react.

Alright, so I’m sure you’ll love the graphics and controls, but there’s something even better that the Resident Evil 5 demo has to offer: Co-op. Best part is, you can play co-op online over the PSN, or even split-screen for some couch co-op. Now, of course you can play single player, but nothing beats actually playing through with someone who can plan and strategize with you. For an RE game, the fact that I can play with a buddy adds a whole new level of fun. Nothing like getting into a swarm of Majini, and having your partner shoot a few in the face so you can uppercut or flip-kick one of them!

Once you’ve played through the demo, you may want to try taking on the Executioner (huge axe-guy) with a buddy. The first time you play through the demo, run! He is extremely tough. But once you get comfortable with the game and controls, try and bring him down. I’ve tried, and he is extremely hard, but it is indeed possible to kill him, so don’t give up.

Oh, and a quick tip I’ve found is to aim for the heads on the Majini so they stagger back. Chest shots work, but one shot to the head means only one bullet expended, then push Square to pull off one of the crazy powerful melee attacks. If you get them to fall on the ground, run up to him and stomp ‘em with your boot or stab with the knife if you’re playing as Sheva!

February 2nd is just around the corner, so add me to your friends list, and I’ll catch you online for some co-op Majini butt-kickin’! PSN ID: Snow_Infernus

See you online!