March is over already? The whole first quarter of 2013 is gone? How can so much time have gone by with so few big games to play? Oh, yeah. It’s not Fall. I still don’t understand why media companies think we only want to consume their product at certain times of year. Big budget blockbuster films release from May to July, while the “Oscar-bait” comes in December. The annual shooters (and historical assassins) release in mid-October to early December and we get a few “also-rans” in late Spring. It’s time for game publishers and filmmakers to realize that we want to be entertained year round.
Seriously, if publishers want to address the used game “problem,” they need to address the release schedules. You don’t have time for 13 different titles at the end of the year. So you’ll buy one or two. Come January, you’ve finished them. The other 11 are still out there, but you aren’t going to pay $60 now. Instead, you’ll sell back your two for about $8 a piece and buy a used copy of one you missed for $35. But, if they spread those 13 titles out over the entire year, wouldn’t you be more inclined to buy one new game a month? Then again, maybe companies just need to recognize the new reality of gaming.
This is especially telling this week as we’ve already seen Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada step down due to financial results that didn’t meet expectations. A few more details about those results have come to light. Tomb Raider, despite selling 3.4 million copies (3.4×60=$204million) worldwide, is being considered a relative failure by the company. The company also released Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs last year, both performing very well critically. Neither should be considered a failure commercially either, selling 3.6 million and 1.75 million, respectively. Maybe my high school accounting classes weren’t Ivy League, but I think making $525million in sales is a good thing. So, what exactly were the expectations?
Okay, sorry. Time to get off my editorial high horse and report on some news:
Konami and Kojima have confirmed what we have long suspected, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain are Metal Gear Solid V. According to a video debuted at GDC, “From FOX two Phantoms were born… FOX vs. XOF.” Not really sure what any of that means, but since when has anything about this series made any kind of sense. The video showed Snake waking from a coma and being helped to escape by a bandaged man. As soon as anything coherent surfaces about the game you’ll hear about it in VGQH. By the way, longtime voice of Snake, David Hayter, was not asked to voice the role for this go-round. Odd.
watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xw5t45tEPWQ
In light of the recent Battlefield 4 reveal, you may be wondering about that Frostbite 3 engine. At least two other EA titles have been confirmed as being developed with the engine, Dragon Age III: Inquisition and Mass Effect 4 (or whatever it’s ultimately named).
It looks like Microsoft would like you to spend more time and money on XBLA titles. They’re even going to reward you for it. Starting on April 1, 2013 (no, this doesn’t appear to be a joke) an Arcade Punch Card program will launch. Spend 20 hours playing any XBLA titles (a total of 20 in all of them, not 20 in only one game) and you’ll get a free avatar item. If you buy any four XBLA titles at 400MSP or more each, and you’ll get a free month on your Gold membership. The third punch card will give you 800MSP when you spend 3200MSP on XBLA games. The return on your investment isn’t very significant, but if you were on the fence about buying a few games this could be just the extra push you need.
Despite my earlier rant about good games glutting up the Fall season, there is at least one coming very soon that BSR! readers are probably excited to play. But, if you’re like me and not convinced that super heroes are enough to make fighting games fun (nothing against them, just no really my style) then you’ll be glad to know that Injustice: Gods Among Us will be getting a demo next week. The demo will feature Batman, Wonder Woman, and Lex Luthor as well as the multi-tiered Gotham City level. Three characters and one level is nothing compared to the full game, which launches April 16th, but it will be a good taste of the action. I expect the three selected fighters will also give a good sampling of different styles and controls as well.
That’s all for this week. Come on back on Tuesday, where (hopefully) my editorial rant will be less severe.