Heavenly Sword Prequel

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Heavenly Sword marketing guy here. Usually I just watch this blog from the sidelines and let our production teams talk (because lets face it, you guys don’t want to hear our marketing mumbo-jumbo) … but our blog team asked me to elaborate on the recent Heavenly Sword videos we just released, so here it is. Hopefully without all the marketing buzz words.


FLV PLAYER

This week’s release of the Heavenly Sword animation prequel and the “Making of” series marks the start of a five-week video campaign that leads into the game’s release. The plan was to provide an exclusive peek to our GAP members on Mondays, then release publicly on Thursdays via the PLAYSTATION Store and on HeavenlySword.com. But this thing called the “World-Wide-Web,” is an amazing animal that doesn’t do too well with keeping things um, secret. So as soon as it hit our “exclusive group,” it basically spread everywhere (not necessarily a bad thing). The good news is, despite the early release, the benefit of downloading the video on your PS3 is that you can watch it in full HD glory on your HD television screen [cue angelic chorus].

As for the videos – the animation prequel gives you a glimpse of the Heavenly Sword pre-history up until the start of the game. This “making of” series highlights the team’s efforts to bring you Heavenly Sword, focusing on different elements of production. I know many of you can’t wait to play the game (…something about the demo being too short…), but hopefully these will be enough to keep you waiting until September 12.

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159 Comments

5 Author Replies

  • wow.

  • Thought I’d check in once more before the weekend hits us.

    @Kyle: Thanks bro, but I can’t take credit, COL was the man with the plan.

    @StuntF50: Sorry, I can only answer on what I know and work on. Re: demos, on the titles I work on, (Warhawk, Heavenly Sword & THE EYE OF JUDGMENT), the only demo that makes sense was Heavenly Sword. Warhawk is impossible because of the multi-player nature of the game. THE EYE OF JUDGMENT would be impossible w/o the PLAYSTATION Eye, cards and other components. Different situations, different scenarios. Not all ideal but we try to work with what we got.

    @Potential Consumer: Great deal! And the Blu-ray discs!!! Not to sound like a marketing guy, but there will be some great software between now and your Nov 30th deadline to hopefully sway your decision.

    @Loucifer: no offense meant. On my first comment I mentioned to twinsdad that I was expecting some negative posts… “- twinsdad: thanks, was writing this last night and was worried the comments would be brutal (although I’m sure I’ll get a fair share). And I’m glad the first comment isn’t a stupid “1st…”. Anyway, looking forward to seeing you in the Warhawk skies…(are you downloading or getting it at retail?)

    @PSFaithful: Madden = 8/14, Warhawk = 8/28, Lair = 9/4, and Heavenly Sword = 9/12 (lots of PS3 goodness on the way)

  • GOOD JOB GUYS, i like when they take time to answer us; il take back my comment ( #31 )about the delay. BTW i love the idea of the videos. I have an idea why dont you guys put some videos as unlockables in HS2, some special stories etc.
    OK GUYS KEEP IT UP.

  • LOL…it just hit me…its only Thursday

  • @Mark

    Haha, I’ve done that so many times.

    So… that means you will be here tomorrow? ; )

  • Tanks fo’ da’ feedback Biz “Mark”ie.

  • @Mark

    I’m definitely going to pick up Warhawk and Heavenly Sword when they hit the market and i’ll probably do the same for Eye of Judgement as well.

    I think someone else asked about the potential for DLC for Heavenly Sword and i’d be curious also… but i imagine designers would wait until sales passed a certain point before putting anything together..

    More out of curiousity, do you have any info. on the Eye? will it be released before or simultaneously with Eye of Judgement? I’m quite impressed with the videos i’ve seen of what it can do but so far i’ve only heard of 2 games using it : EoJ and Eyedentify. Any ideas if it’ll be treated like the motion sensing sixaxis (incorporated into games) or continue as a product specific device?

    pretty off topic i know :) but i thought i’d take a shot.

  • @Mark

    Thanks for taking the time to not only post but comment back as well.

    I was just wondering if you honestly checked out Stunt50’s post about the PSN store? It really is well made. Is there any way that you can pass on the idea to the designers and other people in charge of that?

    I think everybody would appreciate some kind of confirmation that we are being heard and that our opinions on these types of major things (not just what new feature to have on the Blog) really matter.

    Thanks :)

  • Thanks for post it here. Now, I’m more into buy it.

  • Oh yeah, this game definitely has depth. It looks phenomenal in every way, especially the gameplay and combat.

  • @Mark

    Actually, I was going to pass on HS previously, the whole character design just didn’t appeal to me (Nariko is uglier than Kratos for god’s sake), even though the gameplay seemed pretty decent on the demo.
    But after seeing your comments, and how sincere you guys are with the responses from the blog, I think I will just go and pick it up. I’m pretty psyched about all of the other games becoming in the next few weeks, and hopefully HS will keep me entertained as well.

  • I really enjoyed the video. I have been a little disipointed in the Sony marketing team so far this yea, but I hope they were just waiting for the right time. If we can see something like this or the Play Beyond videos on TV commercials I think people will get really exited about the PS3. Can’t wait for next week.

  • Awesome anime guys I can’t wait to play this one. Nariko is like an asian Red Sonja (The Comic not the Movie).

  • is Hevenlysword region free ? and will ther be download s ? new wepons ? new modes and things like that ?, cos i know ill spend lots of time on Hevenlysword, just loads of time. of topic i did read in gametrailers.com forum that one “internet games based magazine ” gave Hevenlysword a solid 10/10 so that shuld mean you v alredy sent out games to games magaz.

  • 1) I want IRC client for PS3 in new firmware.
    2) I want to be able to listen to music when I am changing settings and when I am buying games in PS Store.

    Thanks.

  • @SoulX

    1. ……
    2. Get a walkman. Then you can have music anywhere you go.

  • Wow it was a pretty cool short…and just like the demo…this was shorter than I expected…I thought by episode, it was being meant as like between Robot Chicken or Family Guy in length (15-30minutes in other words XD)

    Oh well…i’m looking forward to the next episode :)

    Hey Mark! Are those release dates you mentioned to PSFaithful the final dates or are those the estimated days? I’d hate to put my hopes up and get my heart shattered again :(

  • @Mark

    “LOL…it just hit me…its only Thursday”

    And here I was thinking you had the best work week every (weekend starts on Fri)…Lol

  • LOL. I laughed so hard at how Mark Valledor pwned all of you haters. Grats Mark, nice video, and can’t wait for the rest.

  • Not bad little episode but i did expect it to a little longer when i downloaded it last night. What’s up with the chesse ball of a game you put up come on Sony.

  • Sorry to be off topic, but I tried downloading The Darkness demo last night, for I haven’t had a chance to lately, and when it finished downloading, I went to install it, and it gave me an error code. Did anyone get this error as well?

  • great video.

    going off-topic. these posts about demos and the PSN is getting ridiculous. if you don’t like how Sony is handling the PS3 and the PSN, THEN SELL YOUR PS3. quit spamming every damn blog post with the same CRAP OVER AND OVER.

    @StuntF50
    learn to write a comment and maybe it would get denied. remember, there is a limit on how big a comment can be when sending an email to Sony. try cutting your post down into 2-3 seperate emails. BUT FOR GOD’S SAKE, STOP POSTING THE SAME CRAP IN EVERY BLOG POST. even the moderators on the forums are getting tired of your posting.

  • @mark – LOl i was wondering about eh weekend comment. I thinking to myself he must seriously be waiting for the weekend. Teh anime stuff wa a surprise o me and it was great content. Keep them coming. Its bad arse to have episodes on teh PSN before and after the game release i think.

  • @RicanPlaya88

    Most of the time when you get the error msg. after downloading it means than the download was interrupted.

    Like one time my niece unplugged my 3 while downloading when I turned it back on it looked all good then install error. Another time my internet service got interrupted by bad weather.

    It sucks to spend an hour plus waiting for something and getting nothing.

  • any chance of getting longer episode that cover the events in or during the game?

  • @ Mark Valledor

    Thanks for actually responding to my post. Do you mind telling me who is in charge of those operations? So when a post by them comes along, I can swing that by them?

  • @StuntF50
    maybe, just MAYBE, the people in charge of demos from third parties are *drum roll* third parties!
    if you want a demo for an EA title, maybe, just a thought, but maybe you should contact EA.

    your Copy-Paste spam posts (of which you’re now doing on other sites as well) are about as effective as me complaining to the guy at the video store how much i want him to make me lasagna for dinner. mmm….lasagna.
    sure, he may care, but there isn’t anything he can do about it.

    back on topic – nice vids, Mark. keep ’em coming!

  • I loved it. Looks fantastic and added more excitement to the story. It’s like Samurai Jack meets Clone Wars. Can’t wait to see the rest.

  • @Solace

    beautiful. everybody seems to want to blame Sony for everything. sometimes, it’s out of their hands. they don’t control the world.

  • @eclipsed4utoo

    Mabey, just mabey they should. LOL

  • I downloaded this even though I watched it days before it was out. It’s nice to have a HQ version of the video :)

  • the video is pretty sweet, you want to get it on tv then try the guys over at [adult swim] i’m sure they would just eat this up.

    @StuntF50: STFU/GTFO we all heard you the first time you spammed this bored. your remarks are invalid, get over it.

    on another note, anyone know anything about when Coyote Revenge Weekend is gonna hit the stores?

  • @Potential (pathetic) Customer

    Your wasted space. Go buy a Wii and and move along. No one likes a procrastinator.

  • @ Sony

    Plz make posible microphone via optical input, i have a 5.1 headset with microphone, in a 360’s friend microphone works, but no on mi ps3!! PLZ fix it!

  • Is there a soundtrack coming out for this game? The music is really good, whoever did the music for this game nailed it.

  • Is this done by the Samurai Jack animation team? You guys should shop this mini-series around to Nickelodeon or Cartoonnetwork, I could see those stations eating this up as a little short they could show between major cartoons. It would also be a great advertisement for the game itself. Do it! Do it!

  • Instead of reading the prolouge in the manual we get this………Awsome! No one reads manuals anyways. Animation doses remind me of Samurai Jack though. Of course that’s not a bad thing.

  • Gamercafe » ¿Serie animada de Heavenly Sword?

    […] ser varios) desde la Playstation Store (147MB y versión HD, obviamente) o verlos desde el blog de Playstation US. Según el manager de marketing de SCEA, Mark Valledor, se inspiraron en la serie “Clone […]

  • Both the animated special and the making-of were a blast. Way to go guys. I’ll be looking forward to the rest during the next four weeks.

    I just wonder who the narrator is?

  • Hi all. I love when u create a back story for a series (for sure will be more HS), giving it a deep felling of being somewhere with a past, a present and a future. Games in our days are huge products, so its very important to release them with the maximum quality possible. Making this videos will help for sure people starting to enjoy the characteres, giving them charisma and personality. The story is always a very important aspect i search in a game, I loved the demo and i will get it for sure. I hope there will be a lot of story in the game. Another thing, a little offpost, i want to thank Sony for the portuguese (from Portugal) adaptation.
    Good job and we are all going to meet at WW to discuss our matters LOL.
    Still no HS and WW. Well come to the south of Portugal, beautifull beaches, great night till 9 am, babes all over the place. Well this is a post about marketing wright? LOL. Well anyway all i told about the south of Portugal is true. So now its time to go out, yesterday was a swiss girl today lets see :P

  • this is a must have game for the PS3.thanks for the weekly video stories.I cant wait to see the next one.

  • Hi Mark

    Thanks for the post and the comments. I am looking forward to Heavenly Sword, but my only concern is the camera angles. In a playthrough yesterday at gamespot, against the snake like boss, I noticed that sometimes the camera really gets in your way. This is especially problematic since like in God of War, the right stick doesn’t control the camera. In these types of games, the camera can make or break the game. Has any effort been put to resolve the camera issues?

  • Guys, this is a first generation game, lets not whine about 1080p just yet. Similar to Killzone, there are some very innovative techniques making the graphics very rich and detailed even in 720p resolution.
    I like the “prequel” videos it really makes the game feel epic.

  • I’m so very stocked for Heavenly Sword. I have all the official and fan-made wallpapers and post on the official boards every chance I get. If i had a PS3 I would most likely play through the demo every night. Anyway, thanks for posting and i can’t wait for the rest of the animated shorts and making of videos.

  • Potential Customer

    @ VozrotH

    Does your anger have anything to do with the fact that I’ll only pay $350 for my PS3 that you helped fund the R&D for $600 and haven’t yet seen a significant return on your and my investment does it??

  • I would like to know who is behind these animated short prequels for HS? I’ve heard it’s done by the same people who have done Samurai Jack, but now that I tried, I can’t actually confirm that.

    Is it The Orphanage Animation? I know they are now helmed by Genndy Tartakovsky, and I know they did those R&C commercials for SCE.

  • Love how Nariko looks in the anime…

    She’s so cute/sexy, very sexy ;P
    Will get this game for sure!

  • I thought it was great although i was hoping for it to be a little longer but oh well it was still great

  • The animated short is pretty cool. The Making Of videos were really cool too. Can’t wait for the game to come out. What is Ninja Theory working on after this game? Does anyone know?

  • Very cool video, very nice, I really enjoyed the playable demo of HS, and I really look forward to play this game in all its glory. I must also admit that the story in this prequel is wonderfull.

    WD! :D

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