Devil's Third

(Via Kotaku.)

"In looking at real combat, close combat has a more visceral bloody feel to it. I want to get more of that close combat feel in [Devil's Third]," Itagaki told Kotaku in a recent interview, the table full of Valhalla's top staff. Itagaki himself was without his trademark shades, wearing a new silver ring in the shape of the Valhalla Game Studios logo.
[...]
While Bilson and Itagaki were tight-lipped about the story behind Devil's Third, they provided some clues about its war-torn settings, which span the globe. Bilson said the biggest clue about Devil's Third's background is the Kessler syndrome theory.

The Kessler syndrome basically says that the density of objects in low-Earth orbit could reach a point where collisions between those objects could cause a disastrous cascade of debris. Those collisions could compound, causing more orbital collisions, a scenario that could render space travel and the use of satellites unfeasible.
[...]
As for the name Devil's Third, Bilson and Itagaki said it has multiple meanings related to the fiction and the characters, the first of which is rooted in classical music, in the dissonance of tritones, or "Diabolus in Musica." Bilson referenced the works of Richard Wagner, including his opera Götterdämmerung about the downfall of the Norse gods, as well as the music of Black Sabbath, in explaining the concepts behind the game.

"As we expose some of the fiction, it all becomes clear," Bilson says. "[The title Devil's Third] absolutely came out of the game, there's a character in the game that has a relationship to the music, there's three factions…" Then he cut himself off.

"I don't want to really talk about it," he said, seemingly having given away too much already.

Itagaki explained his thoughts on the musical foundation of Devil's Third.

"Dissonance can make people feel negative feelings," he said. "But you can try to be nice, make everything really accessible and pleasant, or you can go down a road that rattles people a bit. I think the latter is where I can make a more interesting impact on people. More than the musical interpretation of Devil's Third, I'm more interested in the literary associations."

(Via Kotaku.)

This game comes from THQ and Valhalla Game Studios, which is comprised of former Team Ninja members (and Tomonobu Itagaki) - the developers of the Dead or Alive fighting games and the recent incarnations of Ninja Gaiden - which happen to be some my favorite video games of all time.  Shit looks insane.

Devil's Third