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During an interview at the 2010 Game Developers Conference, THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson told Joystiq that market research creates "bland" titles, citing it is not a process his group is willing to utilize for future development. "We don't do research to find out what people want to play. If you need to do that kind of research you must not be playing games yourself," Bilson said, noting that research and overusing focus tests can "misguide creative forces."

According to Bilson, his core group at THQ is ruled by creating "excellent" titles. Put simply, Bilson says he will not ship a game if it's not "really good" -- noting that doing otherwise will make it impossible for him to "sleep at night." As an example of this process, Bilson noted his decision to push Darksiders from a 2009 release into the early-2010 calendar in order to ensure the game was of high quality. (Darksiders currently holds an average Metacritic rating of 83.)

"Inspiration comes from one place and research and focus testing will usually destroy it. It will usually create 'bland' and create something for everyone and really nothing for anyone," he said, praising the idea that publishers should not ship a game until it's ready. "If my teams make really good games, in the long run, that's what people relate to. They're not buying advertising, they're not buying Wall Street nonsense. They're buying what's on that disc."

Unlike the less than wonderful relations some developers are currently having with their publishing partners, Vigil Games' general manager David Adams says things between his studio and THQ couldn't have been better during the development of Darksiders. "We were pretty lucky, just because our publisher had this weird, insane faith in us that I don't necessarily think any other publisher would have had ... our take was that if we just did really cool stuff, people would see that -- they'd want to jump on the bandwagon and support us, and THQ did," Adams tells GamesIndustry.biz in a recent interview.

Adams adds that his studio is constantly "trying to be more efficient, do stuff quicker, using less money," so that certainly can't hurt how THQ feels about Vigil, especially given the last year of "restructuring" the publisher underwent to become financially solvent once again. "THQ went through a lot of pain and restructuring -- they took a lot of bullets so we could continue to make our game, and that's a good indication of their faith in us, and their drive to make great-quality products." We'd like to point out that, in this situation, we're all winners because THQ has seemingly become a competitive publisher again, due to producing quality products that we get to play -- and hey, tons of people don't lose their jobs.

Music to make War to.

90 minute playable demo available now on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

A quick note for all the apocalyptic adventure-seekers out there: The promised Darksiders demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. As previously announced, this is no ordinary demo, either. No, this sucker contains the game's first dungeon in its entirety, a chunk of gameplay that should take approximately 90 minutes to complete for the "average player." It's not often that publishers give away that much game for free, so be sure to give it a go.

Oh, and don't forget to post your completion time here in the comments. We're curious to see how close to the mark THQ's estimate is.

Shortcut: Download the Darksiders demo to your Xbox 360 [Via Xbox.com]

It’s been over a month since Darksiders released with near-universal critical praise, and the team at Vigil Studios is still hard at work. On Thursday, Vigil releases a demo for Darksiders. This isn’t your typical demo, however. It packs an unprecedented 90 minutes of gameplay, encompassing the entire first dungeon of the game: the Twilight Cathedral. I had a chance to talk to Vigil’s Creative Director and comic book legend, Joe Madureira (Joe Mad) — along with composers Mike Reagan and Cris Valesco — to get some more info on the demo:

Now that Darksiders has been out for a few weeks, what do you think about the fans’ reactions to the game?

Joe: We are incredibly excited to finally get Darksiders into people’s hands! The response has been fantastic. We already have armies of ravenous fans clamoring for a sequel, and that’s a dream come true for us. For Vigil, the development of Darksiders was almost as epic a journey as War’s is in the game—so of course, we’re excited to finally see it through to its end. We look forward to hearing from even more gamers over the next few months as they check out the demo, and news of the game spreads.

Let’s talk about the demo. What can fans expect from the demo, and where does this take place within the main story?

Joe: In this demo, War has been tasked with retrieving the heart of one of the Destroyer’s chosen. Tiamat, a massive demon queen is not about to give it up without a fight, so you’ll have to pry it from her cold, dead body. Luckily, this is just the sort of thing that the Horsemen of the Apocalypse are good at—and War is probably the toughest of the bunch. Of course at this point, War’s powers have been stripped from him, so he’ll have to use every weapon at his disposal, and locate the ancient artifact called the Cross Blade. Its mastery is vital to navigating the Cathedral, and ultimately bringing down Tiamat. The Cathedral itself is chock full of puzzles and other hazards, and of course, it is home to a host of the Destroyers minions. Be especially wary as you approach the walking pile of cadaverous flesh that is—the Jailer! When you meet him, you’ll see why…

Darksiders is obviously a game with an epic scope. Why choose to focus the demo on the Twilight Cathedral?

Joe: It’s true, there is so much to do, and so much to see in Darksiders, that it was difficult to pick one area to feature. We liked the Cathedral because it’s a self contained chunk of the game that’s fairly early on, so it’s easier to pick up and play. It’s also the first ‘dungeon’ experience in the game, so it’s a good one for players to learn the game’s structure. The dungeon exploration, using keys, solving puzzles, mastering the dungeon’s gear item ( Crossblade ) and of course, introducing tougher enemies and boss battles. It really gives you a taste of the adventure aspect of Darksiders, and hopefully will show gamers just how far from being a typical hack-n-slash Darksiders actually is.

After playing the demo, what do you want fans to know about the rest of the game?

Joe: By the time you beat the demo, you’re going to realize one thing—this is an adventure game! That’s right, you can go back to any area even after you beat it. You’ll want to do this because War is not equipped to find everything his first time through most areas. As War gains new abilities and items, he will be able to unlock areas of the levels previously unattainable. This creates an interesting pace, where combat is carefully balanced with exploration and puzzle solving. It’s not just a button mashing combat drill! That said, I do think it’s important to note that we at Vigil just LOVE to create kick ass enemies. There are some truly cool looking creatures in this game that make for fun and memorable battles! The bosses in particular are a lot of fun and end in a rewarding mess of gore! So what are you waiting for? Check out the demo, and pick up a copy today. YOU MUST OWN THIS GAME PEOPLE!!!!

If you’ve been on Home lately, you may have seen the occasional Angel, Demon, Horseman, or Man-Horse walking around. We wanted to give the denizens of Home a chance show their allegiance to Heaven, Hell, or the Horsemen. We tried to pick some of the more iconic images from the game – including angel wings and demon horns. It’s a real credit to Joe and the rest of the team at Vigil that the characters and costumes look just as cool in the “real-world” Home environment as in the “comic-inspired” game environment. What’s most impressive is that we were able to take some of the in-game models and port them directly into the Home environment.

We recently released War’s armor with the Mask of Shadows. My favorite item, however, is the Ruin horse head mask. It’s at the same time awesome and disturbing. I can’t deny the fact that I was partially inspired by a certain burlap-skinned character from one of my favorite side-scrolling platformers. If you’re a Darksiders fan, or just want to show your good, evil, or creepy side – go check out the Darksiders virtual items!

Lastly, I spoke with composers Mike Reagan and Cris Valesco about the incredible music in Darksiders. You may not know their names, but you definitely know their work – God of War and God of War II being two of their most well-known titles.

What other games have you worked together on?

Mike: This was really the first project that Cris and I truly collaborated and wrote a theme together. Previously, we had both been hired individually to work on the God of War series.

Cris: Mike and I have previously worked on the God of War series together as well as Van Helsing. However, this was the first time that we were actually able to collaborate on actual music. In the past we’ve always just worked on our own music independently. This time we were really able to brainstorm on the Darksiders Main Theme and I think it really shows.

What was your inspiration for the “sound” of Darksiders?

Mike: Spiritual warfare was a key motivator, and we wanted to create a sound that could be heard in complete darkness and convey a haunting experience. The Choir as well as the solo boy soprano sung by Zack Weisberg really added something special to the sound.

Cris: Darksiders clearly has some religious connotations attached to it and we wanted to take advantage of that with the choir. They’re singing in Sanskrit throughout. This language dates back as far as 1500 BC so we thought this would help give the music a sense of weight and age.

What is your favorite track?

Mike: I’m really proud of the Main Theme that Cris and I did together, and the pieces with longer melodies that work really well over the Boss themes as well.

Cris: The Main Theme that Mike and I wrote is probably the stand-out track in the game. It’s definitely my favorite piece. I also really liked the boss music that Mike wrote for the Greaver. Of my own music in the game, I am partial to the final boss music. This track and the Main Theme were actually performed live at the Night In Fantasia ’09 concert in Sydney this last summer too!

Thanks for reading. I hope everyone enjoys the demo!

For a limited time only, Darksiders pack-in code can be redeemed for free copy of critically acclaimed Red Faction: Guerrilla.

Exclusive: The CEO wants games in the cloud, says Natal won't be right for Red Faction and confirms de Blob sequel for multiple platforms.

Over 90 minutes of gameplay coming for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

If a batch of positive reviews has yet to sway you toward picking up Darksiders, THQ and developer Vigil Games are hoping to change that by means of a demo planned to hit Xbox Live and PlayStation Network on February 25. Not just any demo, mind you, but one its publisher claims will "take approximately 90 minutes to complete for the average player." That claim is backed up by the fact that it will include the entire first dungeon -- which is home to two bosses -- from the retail release.

Vigil general manager David Adams explains in the demo's announcement that the dev "really wanted to give gamers a true idea of the variety of gameplay that the game offers," adding, "rather than just making a standard 20-minute demo version of the first few levels, we decided to give away this massive level and reveal the true essence of the game."

Here's what we want you to do. Bookmark this post, then, once the demo hits, come back here and leave a comment letting us know how long it took you to complete. Nothing official-like, but it'll be fun to put THQ's estimate to the test. Just remember -- it said "for the average player." We know you're all well above-average.

THQ reports solid third fiscal quarter.

THQ reports solid third fiscal quarter.

Poor Darksiders. Like an overeager child, it tried to win THQ's approval with its solid mechanics and colorful doomsday aesthetic, but, according to Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald, it likely missed the mark. He estimated for Gamasutra that the game has sold less than a million units, especially disappointing considering -- again, Greenwald's assertion -- the two to three years of development for the game and "heavy marketing dollars." Making matters worse is the fact that the game was discounted two weeks after its release. Here's hoping that a poor first outing for the Horseman doesn't necessarily mean Armageddon for his series.

Removing screen tearing from a game requires plenty of work (probably!), so Digital Foundry was understandably skeptical when a patch to the 360 version of Darksiders, less than a month after its launch, claimed to help the game's image quality. But according to DF's analysis, Vigil and THQ were able to pull it off, reducing tearing by as much as 50 percent. How'd they do it? It would appear that this feat was achieved by locking the frame rate at 30 per second rather than letting the game push out as many frames as it could at any given moment. That seems like good news for fans and great news for all those poor, torn screens.

Out soon for Xbox 360 gamers.

Starting tomorrow, the screen-tearing present in the Xbox 360 version of Darksiders will (hopefully) be a thing of the past, as the game's official blog reports the patch will be available for download starting tomorrow. You'll find the update available starting tomorrow at 2am PT (5am ET). We'd like to be a bit more excited about it, but knowing that everyone ever in the world will eventually succumb to the apocalypse ... well, we're finding it a bit difficult to get pumped about an update to some video game. If you'll excuse us, we're going to call our families and tell 'em how awesome they are. [Via VG247]

Pull out various attacks while you battle Wicked K in this gameplay.

If you've been waiting for a good reason to pick up Darksiders on your Xbox 360, we might just have one. Newegg is currently selling the game for a cool $39.99, a full $20 off the standard $59.99 price. The $40 price includes shipping, too, so it's really a pretty significant savings. For what it's worth, we enjoyed the game quite a bit, despite its flaws. A $40 price point could only make it better, right? Says Justin McElroy, who reviewed the game for Joystiq, "You're crazier than Jeff Zucker if you don't buy Darksiders for $40 /topical." So there you go.

IGN's editorial staff weighs in on Vigil Games' post-apocalyptic action-adventure game.

Now that the definitive source on these here vidya games has weighed in on the intense debate regarding the quality of Darksiders, it's time we opened up the floor to other opinions and thoughts. Below, in our usual style, we've organized several viewpoints for your perusing. The majority of reviews laud Vigil's title as a genuinely fun time, so check out the links below and be sure to wage war with your own opinions in the comments section below! GameInformer (85/100): "Even without a clear narrative purpose, Darksiders never wavers from being an enjoyable adventure. I had a blast playing it, and strangely enough, the obvious nods to other games added to the fun. Despite a lame last boss fight, the setup planted for the sequel has me counting the days until it arrives." GameTrailers (84/100): "Darksiders has a lot of staples in its stable. And, yes there's even a horse. And a flying section. And even some gun segments. They're all fun, but nothing to blog home about. It's able to emulate its idols very well, so whatever War is doing, it's bound to be enjoyable. But anyone who's attracted to this sort of game, or action games in general, is going to feel more familiar than floored." GameSpot (80/100): "Darksiders unapologetically borrows gameplay ideas and mechanics from all over the spectrum and is constantly cramming new ones in all the way up to the very end. While it's not innovative by any stretch of the imagination, neither is it entirely derivative, as these myriad features not only gel together surprisingly well, but when put together even feel fresh again. Though it's hobbled by a disappointing story and excessively complex controls (as well as some technical issues on the Xbox 360), Darksiders is a fun and entertaining adventure with a host of fair but challenging puzzles, a lengthy single-player campaign, and an engaging combat system." Eurogamer (80/100): "Still, while on the surface of it Darksiders feels like a game with a lot of good ideas but only a few of its own, where even a brief flying section on an angelic mount owes rather a lot to Panzer Dragoon, overall the silly old story and wonderful art style give terrific heft to the universe, and the clockwork of the puzzles and game systems are precision-engineered in a manner that you come to trust implicitly. It may be a game of betrayal and redemption, but you won't feel hard done by if you choose to begin 2010 in its company." IGN (78/100): "Just as War is on a quest to alter how he's perceived, it seems Darksiders itself is on a quest for its own identity. It draws heavily from mechanics established in the 3D Legend of Zelda games and mixes in a forgiving combat system along with elements from a host of other popular titles. It's a goulash of collection mechanics, exploration, and combat we've all seen before, but to Vigil's credit all these elements are adeptly combined in the same product and executed well overall. While the game world could have been developed more, the boss fights leave a lot to be desired, and more interesting things could have been done with the combat and puzzles, the game as it stands is still thoroughly entertaining. If it's successful and a sequel is eventually produced, it'd be great to see a game filled with terrors wielding powers of unknowable strength take a few more risks and step into territory less well-traveled. In the meantime, we should just enjoy the solid puzzle and combat mechanics Vigil is offering, as well as the opportunity to stomp demons as a Horseman of the Apocalypse." GameDaily (70/100): "All of this amounts to a game that, while entertaining, falls short of being a triple A experience. Darksiders has an engaging story, beautiful visuals and plenty of badass characters, but THQ/Vigil Games' reliance on tired concepts prevent it from being a must buy." Source - Darksiders reviews (Xbox 360) Source - Darksiders reviews (PS3)

It's impossible to review Darksiders without the conversation beginning and ending with its influences. Though it's not technically a copy cat, this is a game that wears its inspirations on its bone-armored sleeve. It's a gutsy move by newcomer Vigil Games, considering it's inviting comparisons to some of the gaming's heaviest hitters, but it's one that -- for the most part -- pays off. You're War, the angriest of the Four Horsemen, and you've just been tricked into starting Armageddon. Now, all the people on Earth are dead and you've been given one chance to travel to the post-apocalyptic planet and take your vengeance on the party responsible, whoever that may be.

Update: We've closed the comments and will contact a winner this week. Check the email tied to your commenter name!Do you like action figures, t-shirts, and books? Good, then we've got just the thing for you. Darksiders has been keeping us occupied ever since its somewhat bizarre release date of January 5, so we'd like to pass this newfound addiction straight on to you, the reader. You can outfit yourself with a War action figure (complete with his lovely, flowing, white locks and his megasword Chaoseater), a sweet Darksiders t-shirt (size large), and a hardbound Darksiders art book that'll tell you everything you need to know about the game. Wait, what's this? You want the game, too? A toy, a garment, and some reading material won't do it for you? Fine. We'll also toss in a PS3 copy of the game, free from all of the glitchified bugs tearing up the Xbox 360 version. To enter, just tell us what you'd name your own ginormous, soul-devouring sword Leave a comment telling us what moniker you'd apply to your own giant sword. You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, because of something Clint Hocking said -- at least that's what we heard). Limit 1 entry per person per day This entry period ends at 11:31AM ET on Sunday, January 10. At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one copy of Darksiders for PS3 ($59.99 ARV), one Darksiders t-shirt, size large ($10 ARV), one Darksiders art book ($14.99 ARV), and one action figure featuring War from Darksiders ($19.99 ARV). For a list of complete rules, click here What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. For more info on our policy, click here.

The forces of Heaven and Hell have prepared for the release of Darksiders.

Hear the select reactions of the gaming industry on the recent release of Darksiders.

You'd think some screen tearing was only natural in the aftermath of ... the Apocalypse -- but apparently it's an unintended hiccup in the Xbox 360 version of Vigil Games' Darksiders. Speaking to IGN, studio head Joe Madureira confirmed that Vigil is aware of the issue and is planning a title update to address it. "It's something that's really not a difficult fix for us, and so we're going to implement a patch to resolve the problem," Madureira assured. "We're fairly certain it'll happen really soon, so look out for it." Phew! It's good to know that the end of the world will be running a little smoother in no time.

Vigil Games' head spills to IGN about the movie adaptation and franchise's future.

With little explanation offered (alright, so, basically no explanation whatsoever), the United Arab Emirate states have reportedly banned the distribution and sale of THQ and Vigil's Darksiders: Wrath of War. According to UAE-based GamesLatest, the game was deemed to "contradict with the UAE's customs and traditions" -- a standard phrase used to near-universally describe banned games in the Middle Eastern states. Unfortunately, that task of enforcing such a ban can be a mighty difficult one. Many retailers in the UAE simply order from wholesalers, bypassing importing laws altogether, and sell their games under the table (and untaxed, might we add). And then, of course, there's always the internet -- we hear you can buy stuff through it. [Via GamePolitics]

Joe Mad confirms Vigil working to eliminate graphical issues on Xbox 360.

Does this demonic pastiche pass the Devil's muster? GameTrailers Video Review passes the ultimate judgment.

Apparently Hollywood wouldn't mind tossing Darksiders up on the silver screen, as Vigil's Joe Madureira confirmed to VG247 that THQ's already been contacted for projects outside of the video game realm. "We've gotten some interest from Hollywood, we've talked about doing a comic series," said Madureira. Obviously, a comic wouldn't be much of a stretch for the creative director, given his past experience with the medium. "It's really a THQ thing, but I know they are definitely talking to people and I would be surprised if some of that stuff didn't happen," he added. While we can't really say whether the prospect of either is a good thing at this point -- we're still playing Darksiders for review -- we'll be sure to let you all know either way.