Dragon’s Crown finally dated as it draws fresh criticism for sexy imagery

Publisher Atlus is finally confirming that developer Vanillaware’s next game, Dragon’s Crown, is due out this summer.

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Dragon’s Crown, the 2D beat-em-up for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, will debut Aug. 6 in North America. It’s $49.99 on PS3 and $39.99 on Vita.

This is Vanillaware’s first title since 2011’s Grand Knights History for PlayStation Portable and the first new home-console game since 2009’s Muramasa: The Demon Blade for Nintendo Wii.

Dragon’s Crown is also drawing attention for its car-wreck character design. Two female heroes, the large-breasted Sorceress and the muscle-bound Amazon, moved some critics to call the game sexist and unwelcoming to women.

Vanillaware president George Kamitani responded to criticism from Kotaku by claiming the author would prefer three burly naked dwarves instead of a busty female character. The suggestion is that the male author prefers other men.

It seems like a tactical error for Vanillaware to attack a critic’s sexuality rather than defend its design choices. Kamitani may have realized that, as the post (which you can see to the right) is no longer available on his Facebook page.

We’ve reached out to Atlus to ask for its position on the game as it relates to the gender issues, which are currently a hot topic in the games industry.