The Biggest Headlines in Gaming From the Past Week
by Menashe
Sony Puts Up a New PS Store & Pulls It Right Back Down (new features coming every month)
Sony tried on a new store interface for size this past week in Europe and Australia. Immediately it began to receive complaints for being too slow to respond and navigate as well as having many errors. Luckily, Sony was listening to the fans and took it down promptly to sort out the issues. It now remains a question how Sony will deal with the same interface update that was set to take place in North America next week. One positive sign is that a Sony rep told thesixthaxis.com that the improvements to the PS Store will be a process over time with new updates and features rolling out consistently each month.
The Last Guardian, Sadly, Delayed Until 2014
The Last Guardian just can’t catch a break, can it? While originally announced in 2009, fans have been waiting anxiously for any sign of life for years. There have been positive signs recently, but Amazon has somewhat dampened our hopes for a 2013 release. In an email sent out to consumers who pre-ordered, they declared the game’s release date has been delayed until January 2014. Oh Last Guardian, where art thou?
Sony Teases a New Game With Mysterious Trailer
Sony has teased the world with a trailer called The Reload on Youtube. It clearly is teasing an upcoming game or feature announcement but not much can be deduced other than the fact it has to do with lightning. Â Speculation is that it either has to do with the next inFAMOUS game, PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, or the upcoming update to the PS Store interface. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Gaikai Teases Us With Unannounced Games, More Mass Effect, God of War, Killzone, and More
Cloud gaming may become a very big deal in the future of the industry and Sony made a big move when it acquired Gaikai, a cloud gaming platform. Cloud gaming will allow streaming of games without the need to download the entire game onto hard drive. Speculation was that game streaming may only be relegated to smaller PS2 games but not games from this generation. However, new images from Gaikai had us believe that many current and upcoming games from popular franchises will be available. This will indeed be an exciting new direction for gaming. The images teased were from Mass Effect 3, Killzone 2/3, Metal Gear Rising, Modern Warfare, Uncharted 2, inFamous 2, LittleBigPlanet, God of War 2, Killzone 1, and a blurry unannounced game. So, clearly there are games from past, present, and future poised for the platform. Check out the images via the source below.
Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Coming to PS3 With New Content
Rising Star Games said this week that Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut is coming to PS3 and it will include DLC, better fighting mechanics, and some new scenes included in the original game. Since there isn’t much hope for a sequel, players should enjoy what new content they can get.
Microsoft Hints at Xbox Changing Directions
Kotaku has a fascinating article tying together many different clues and statements that point to a new direction for Microsoft on the future of Xbox. The key phrase they kept on repeating was “Entertainment as Service”. It seems this referred to expansion and broadening of their entertainment services, as well as a new focus on casual, free-to-play, and online gaming. This doesn’t necessarily mean they will be phasing out their incredible hardcore games and franchises, just that they will also including other services to broaden their range of appeal. Read the full article for many enlightening insights.
Halo 4 Leaked, But You’ll Get Perma-Banned by Microsoft for Playing It
While Halo 4 may have been leaked a month before release, spoiling the ending for many gamers, Microsoft came down strong on anyone playing the pirated version of the game. Those who tried to play the multiplayer modes of the game via Xbox Live found themselves banned with a permanent ban. It’s wisest to wait the remaining time until release rather than getting stuck with a ban, no matter how badly you want to play the game.
Nintendo and Microsoft Drop Prices In Reaction to Slimmer PS3 Release
The new slimmer model of the PS3 released by Sony last month was the first move in series of moves and counter-moves. Nintendo and Microsoft attempted to quell any burgeoning momentum of Sony’s new bundle by dropping the prices of their respective consoles. The Nintendo Wii dropped from $149 to $129 in North America and now includes both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, and Microsoft dropped the Xbox 360 from $299 to $249.
UK Retailer Leaks MGS Ground Zeroes Release Date for Sept. 2013
ShopTo, a UK retailer who once leaked a release date for Crysis 3 that was later proven accurate, have now leaked the release date for Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. It seems that it won’t be coming out any time soon, rather we will have to wait until next September in order to get our hands on the game. Expect it to be one of the most anticipated games leading up to its release.
Rockstar Games Collection Edition 1 Looks Awesome and Its Coming to PS3, Xbox 360
Have you somehow missed Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition, L.A. Noire, and Red Dead Redemption. Now’s your chance for salvation! Rockstar has announced an incredible collection that will include all of those games and its heading to both PS3 and Xbox 360. It seems like an obvious deduction, but the fact that it’s called Collection Edition 1 hints at future collections too. I wonder what games they will choose to bundle next.
IGN Going Up For Auction
IGN seems to change ownership a lot. In 2005, News Corp bought IGN for $650 million but after an internal restructuring they announced their intention to sell entertainment network for a reduced price of $100 million. It’s been a year already and no deal has been made. It seems that the next plan is to put up the online network for auction. Any bidders should step forward now.
Rumor: Ride Dragons to Morrowind in Next Skryim DLC, “Dragonborn”
Hackers have been poking around in different files and have uncovered some juicy details on what is probably the next DLC for Skyrim. Among many other details, the most exciting info so far seems to be the fact that you may be able to ride dragons and also make a trip to Morrowind. If anyone hasn’t been convinced to buy Skyrim yet, I think Bethesda has just found the way to grab their attention.
Obsidian Raises Highest Amount Ever on Kickstarter- $4 Million
Obsidian Entertainment has surpassed Tim Schafer and Double Fine for the highest amount of fund collected for a Kickstarter project. Whereas Double Fine collected over 3 million dollars for their upcoming point-and-click adventure game, Obsidian collected nearly 4 million for their upcoming old-school RPG, Project Eternity. Congratulations to them and all the RPG fans out there.
Criterion Promise They Will Come Back to Burnout At Some Point
Criterion said that they’d like to work on a Road Rash next, once they finish up on their current Need for Speed game. Still, they promised that eventually there will be another Burnout game. The last Burnout game was released in 2008.
