Though it’s merely a matter of speculation, South African retailer BT Games is currently offering pre-orders for the unannounced (but highly rumored) God of War 4.
About: Sean Bassinger
Details Announced for TGS 2012
CESA, the primary organizer of Japan’s Tokyo Game Show, has released information regarding events and displays featured at TGS 2012.
Double Fine receives over $300,000 for adventure project
In just under six hours, Double Fine has successfully collected over $300,000 for a publicly funded adventure game and documentary project with 2 Player Productions.
THQ battling economic turmoil
THQ, the publisher behind titles like Saints Row: The Third and the WWE franchise, has certainly seen better days in the financial world.
RUMOR: EA planning new Populous and titles from Insomniac
NeoGaf is at it again, with one user claiming he’s stumbled across signs of both a new Populous and other projects involving Insomniac.
Nintendo planning for new “2D” Mario title
New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS and Wii systems did an excellent job at restoring the spirit of what Mario games were, all while mixing these fuzzy feelings of nostalgia with new concepts. Both games were a huge success, and Nintendo recently acknowledged their plans to give the fans more.
In a general summary of things to come, Iwata summarized Nintendo’s accomplishments while outlining goals for 2012.
“Although there is no logo here, we are planning to release a totally new side-scrolling action Super Mario in 2D as a key title for the Nintendo 3DS in the next fiscal year,” Iwata told GoNintendo.
Iwata also touched on difficulties faced with selling the 3DS, and that Nintendo may have to sell the hardware “below cost” in order to remedy the situation.
Other titles mentioned in the report (through the form of logo) include Paper Mario and Luigi’s Mansion 2. Iwata says that the new 2D Mario project should release in “the next fiscal year.”
Source: GoNintendo
RUMOR: Nintendo might rename the Wii-U
Since day one, the name “Wii-U” has been ridiculed. If you weren’t groaning over the fact that Nintendo just lazily slapped a “U” at the end of an already criticized console name, you were one of the people making references to Ling from Kung Pow! Enter the Fist. After much debate, it looks like Nintendo agrees — the name (probably) won’t work.
Netflix: “no plans” to incorporate video game rentals
Netflix took a pretty huge blow when they split services (DVD and streaming services were once on the same $7.99 bill) in the fall, prompting a massive loss of customer subscriptions in the beginning.
Xbox 360 successor (supposedly) launching next fall with six times the power
The Wii U will be more powerful than any current-gen console, but that statement alone gives both Microsoft and Sony an upper edge in assuring their new machines are (graphically) more powerful.
According to reports on IGN, the new Xbox “720″ scheduled to arrive in October/November 2013 will feature graphics supported by an AMD Radeon 6000 series card (following speculation that it would utilize a Radeon 7000 series GPU). Even so, this is still six times more powerful than the current Xbox 360, and will possibly be 20 percent stronger than the upcoming Nintendo Wii U.
Though there have been numerous announcements regarding its construction, the fabled Xbox 360 successor still has no established price point. From the sounds of it, this next generation will simply be an overhauled version of what we’ve already experienced — two raging powerhouse consoles with most A-list titles, and a few spicy reinventions from Nintendo.
Jak and Daxter Collection arriving February 7, promises trophies galore.
For all you achievement nuts out there, Sony says the new Jak and Daxter Collection (PS3) will feature more than 100 trophies to collect. Other perks to this compilation of PlayStation remakes — the former including The God of War Collection and The Sly Collection — will feature 720p HD graphics and stereoscopic 3D functionality.
Though seemingly lazy (since these and other PS3 remasters are still fairly recent), this is a great opportunity for those who missed out on the Jak and Daxter series. The PlayStation Blog promises that trophies — crafted by the team at Mass Media — will depend on variations in the type of mission.
The Jak and Daxter Collection will hit stores on Feb. 7 (about two weeks) for the asking price of $39.99. And for those of you who enjoy fishing for the impossible, there will, of course, be platinum trophies.
Popular industry sites supporting SOPA blackout
Though the ESA continues to support the SOPA and PIPA bills, there are still many independent gaming organizations — websites and developers — speaking out.
Among the blackouts today (primarily influenced by Wikipedia and other larger internet organizations) is popular gaming site Destructoid.com, which urges followers to take immediate action by contacting Congress to assure that SOPA — in its current form — remain shelved. Readers are also encouraged to send in black and white photos of “how SOPA makes you feel.”
Penny Arcade, one of the most popular organizations in the industry today, released an episode of Extra Credits devoted to stopping the ESA’s support of both SOPA and PIPA by protesting E3 2012. Among other content creators in the video is Mark Kern, CEO of Red 5 Studios and creator of the game Firefall. And of course, their personal developers website is also down in protest.
As for most major gaming outlets, they currently remain active, but claim to not support SOPA/PIPA. Among them are sites like 1UP.com and Kotaku, believing it’s in the best interest of everyone to continue updating content. Joystiq also seems to be functioning today, though they’ve made it very clear that they and their parent company, AOL, are against SOPA.
The continuing SOPA blackouts are expected to last until tomorrow, with Wikipedia being the closest to an official representative in this online protest. Additional updates regarding what’s been done and what Wikipedia hopes to further accomplish can be found here.
PS3 “12 for ’12″ sale starts tomorrow
Great sales are arriving on the PS3 and PSN in order to kick off 2012. As listed on the official PlayStation Blog, 12 downloadable titles are now 30% off to all PSN users and 50% off to PS Plus subscribers.
Some of the games included are BloodRayne: Betrayal, PixelJunk SideScroller, Dungeon Defenders, and Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection. Most titles are either retro ports or inspired by classics, so those of you looking for a nice and cheap dose of nostalgia might want to check these out.
The sale officially starts tomorrow and runs until next Monday (January 23).
(Source: PlayStation Blog)
