I just watched the Q&A.  I found myself nodding (yes, yes) throughout.  I like what he had to say about pretty much everything.   And although the answers were sometimes vague, it seems as though they're taking what was great about DS1 and refining it.  He specifically said they're not introducing many new concepts.  If they tell a more direct story while keep the defining elements, then I'm all in.

The animations will be mo-cap apparently - I can tell now there's a difference and it looks great.  My inner nerd is pretty hyped.

I know they're planning a PC version at least, don't know about the PS360. It's possible, though. Technically, it'd be fairly easy, honestly.

Lots of people think that the Souls games use proprietary technology, but they're actually powered by the PhyreEngine, a fantastic free cross-platform framework Sony developed. Looking at this (exciting!) video it's clear DS2 will also be a PhyreEngine game, but I'm not sure what Sony's schedule is for updates. Even if it doesn't update for next-gen platforms right away, it should be relatively easy for FromSoft to port assets to the next version. Since Phyre has build support for practically every system in the universe, cross-platform play would be technically plausible. Will the developers lock each other out again? Sony-to-Microsoft, probably. But Xbox720-to-Windows? Maybe not! No particular reason it wouldn't work.

I notice that GFWL subscribers/friends show up on XBL, at least what they're playing does. I'm not sure if that works the other way. But the more cross-platform it gets, the better.

And damn, that dynamic light...

Warping at every fire... I can live with it, but I'm with you guys. It never really took that long to walk anywhere in DkS, and the idea of earning the power to warp really sat well with me. In general I oppose careless integration of fast travel because it tends to break up the experience. Give me fast travel like Morrowind's - something you pay for, different conveyances go to different places, and integrated into the world (this versus the click anywhere on the map and zip to it, like the bad Elder Scrolls games).

Generally it does look like the "accessibility" they're adding will be smaller points; that they're not diluting the overall flavor of Dark Souls. That's very gratifying!

Just got the official numbers, by the way - Dark Souls sold 2,367,000 units, of which 692,000 were the Prepare to Die edition (which is to say full versions of the game including the Artorias of the Abyss DLC). Numbers are from From Software executive director Eiichi Nakajima.

2.3M units is quite good, and this puts to bed a lot of speculation about sales numbers, estimates of which have ranged from 1.5M to 2.8M. We don't have a PC-specific breakdown since Steam does not release precise sales numbers, but it's safe to assume that 65% or more of those Prepare to Die sales were PC.

It's true, you can't always love what Jim Sterling has to say, but that video nailed it. Why is 2.3 million copies a good thing? Because the game was planned and budgeted such that 2.3 million copies would be a good thing. Look at all the Kickstarter games. Those guys will be thrilled if they sell 100K copies beyond their early pledges, because if they planned it that way, that'll be a huge plus.

Eventually the big publishers will realize this.

Engines are typically the loss leader in development. If you insist on creating your own engine, expect to spend a couple million dollars and an extra 2-3 years in development. Just ask the STALKER people. Meanwhile Souls doesn't just use a licensed engine, it uses a free licensed engine that does the job and looks great. There's a reason so many developers use Unreal!

Beyond that, as Sterling (and Meho on the main page) said, forget the Hollywood talent, do hair physics only if they're necessary, and focus on making a good game rather than a blockbuster. That almost always succeeds.