Sand Land, the game adaptation of Akira Toriyama's manga, now has a demo

The long-serving top producer of legendary RPG series Dragon Quest has stepped down from the role, according to sources that spoke to RPS Maw tribute site Bloomberg. Yu Miyake, who has been involved with numerous DQ games since he joined Enix in 1989 as marketer on DQ books, is moving on to head up Square Enix’s mobile games.

Sand Land will come out on April 25 on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The RPG, from the creator of Dragon Ball, is set in a world where water is severely limited. You play as Prince Beelzebub and build vehicles to trek the desert world, with the goal of finding The Legendary Spring’s water to hydrate Sand Land. Preorders are now available (see it on Amazon).

Despite the controversy surrounding Tekken 8’s recent addition of the cash shop and Battle Pass, Bandai Namco’s sequel has done well. Before its launch, producer Katsuhiro Harada revealed that the series had sold over 55 million copies on the Game Maker’s Notebook Podcast.

Xbox is paying homage to manga and video game artist Akira Toriyama by bringing a new dynamic dashboard background to Xbox consoles. The new dynamic background features art from Xbox 360 RPG Blue Dragon, which featured artwork by Toriyama.

Keita Takahashi’s surreal gaming masterpiece Katamari Damacymarks its 20th anniversary this year, and publisher Bandai Namco has done something truly meaningful to celebrate: It’s resolved whatever rights issues were keeping the game’s classic soundtrack album off music streaming services, and republished it. Royal rainbow!

Earlier this month, the world lost a one-of-a-kind creative talent with the news of Akira Toriyama’s passing. While Dragon Ball will always be Toriyama-sensei’s best-known work, he leaves behind a legacy full of many other imaginative worlds across games, anime, and manga. Before leaving us, he worked with Bandai Namco to flesh out one of his short manga creations further: Sand Land. Alongside a new anime series, Toriyama-sensei gave input on a videogame adaptation of Sand Land that would allow players to explore this unique world for themselves.

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer ILCA have released a new trailer and screenshots SAND LAND introducing “The Forest Land.”

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Spike Chunsoft have released a new trailer and 13-minute gameplay showcase video for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, introducing new and returning gameplay elements and 11 new playable characters.

A demo for Sand Land is out now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam, publisher Bandai Namco has announced.

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer ILCA have released a demo for SAND LAND for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam. While save data from the demo will not transfer to the full game, playing the demo will unlock bonus items.

Akira Toriyama, the artist behind iconic manga like Dragon Ball, has passed away aged 68. His death was confirmed by the official Dragon Ball website, which noted that he still had “several works in the middle of creation”. A statement added: “He has left many manga titles and works of art to this world. We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”

Akira Toriyama, the creator behind the vastly successful Dragon Ball franchise, has passed away age 68.