The Mess Hall

Symonator wrote:...or maybe they will expand on that broken archstone from the nexus - they never did get round to showing us that world.

Miyazaki wrote:“We don’t even know if we’ll have another chance. We have the confidence that we can improve from our mistakes this time and create an even better Dark world, but we don’t know if the users will forgive us for the mistakes, so I cannot give an exact answer.”

Miyazaki wrote:“Yes, there were technical difficulties. I don’t believe that it’s okay to have them, but realistically speaking, it was quite a large-scale game – even in terms of budget and expectations. So we’re very sorry for the trouble we’ve caused by our processing errors and bugs from Japan. It was a title that we haven’t really experienced in all aspects, so there were areas where we felt our technical side couldn’t keep up with the game’s scope, like an increasingly growing ache. I didn’t mind the growing pains. We accept the game as it is, and that it’s just a part of the learning curve.”

Dark Souls Series 'Not Over Yet'
Will there be smartphone, tablet and PC versions?


From Software head of R&D Masanori Takeuchi and executive producer Eiichi Nakajima have spoken out about the future of the franchise.

Speaking to GameTrailers during this week's Game Developers Conference, Takeuchi confirmed that he'd like to see the series continue.

"Of course, it's not over yet," Takeuchi said. "You have to go back to our roots, which is King's Field. We've made many games in that series. We've always been enamored by dark fantasy action RPGs. That's just been our core DNA and I think we'll continue to utilize that."

The pair also commented on other potential platforms for the series. Takeuchi commented that the franchise could even expand to smartphones and tablets in the future.

"We know what butters our bread, obviously it's consumer games," Takeuchi said. "That's where we see some of our key strengths. That being said, as developers, we like to do new things and new challenges will help us mature and grow as a developer. Smart phones and tablets are an interesting challenge for us."

"If we do go down that path, it's not going to be what you see on the market today, [which are] more watered down, less 'core' experiences," he added. "We like to make games for core gamers, so if we take that approach, it's going to be a core experience on a tablet, something that gamers are going to love. If you look at the install base of the two different types — 3DS and PS Vita versus smart phone and tablets — they're incredibly different. For us, trying to find a way to appeal our content, the sort of games that we're good at, to a new audience is going to be a challenge."

Finally, Takeuchi commented on the petition to port Dark Souls to PC, commenting "that's going to be a decision left up to the publisher, Namco Bandai, but yes, we have seen the comments and we do know of the desire for a PC version."