Welcome back from the weekend. I hope yours was just as enjoyable but less painful than mine. Let’s get right to the news:
The full character line up for Injustice: Gods Among Us has finally been revealed. It looks like the only two that are newly announced are Killer Frost and Ares as everyone else has been revealed somewhere along the media machine’s trail for this title. The game releases April 16, 2013 and your full 24 character roster (though I expect some DLC) is:
- Aquaman
- Ares
- Bane
- Batman
- Black Adam
- Catwoman
- Cyborg
- Deathstroke
- Doomsday
- The Flash
- Green Arrow
- Green Lantern
- Harley Quinn
- Hawkgirl
- The Joker
- Killer Frost
- Lex Luthor
- Nightwing
- Raven
- Shazam
- Sinestro
- Solomon Grundy
- Superman
- Wonder Woman
Suda 51 is teasing Grasshopper Manufacture’s next game (after this summer’s Killer is Dead). So far he’s just saying it is an action game that will be “unique.” Not that we expected something “normal” from the creator of Killer Seven and Lollipop Chainsaw. Speaking to Edge magazine, Suda said
“This is going to be an action game obviously but the gameplay style is going to differ very much – it’ll be unique. This is a title that GungHo Japan and Grasshopper Manufacture [are] working on together collaboratively so there will be an online feature, because that’s their forte and what they specialize in.
“On the simplest level it will be social, but the word social is used and misinterpreted a lot these days. GungHo has over ten years of experience in providing online gaming services so that is their strength. This is a very new style of online feature, so there’s no example from the past.”
Insomniac Games has decided to skip a growing trend when they release Fuse late next month. Online playable shooters have increasingly added microtransactions to further monetize their games. Another tool with growing popularity is the season pass, which lets you preorder the game’s planned DLC for a slight discount. Insomniac has said that they’re passing on both of these. In a Q&A on the game’s official site, one questions asked “Season Pass?” The response was simple and clear: “Nope. But, you should still buy it new to support us because there are no microtransactions to make up for it, though.” The lack of these two tricks is intriguing, but even more so when you consider it’s being published by EA, one of the biggest proponents of these nickel and dime tactics, notoriously adding microtransactions to single player campaign in Dead Space 3.
The latest next-gen console rumors have Microsoft pushing back their announcement for the neXtBox (it’s still currently called Durango and expected to be retailed as simply XBox, but I think my name is catchier – though harder to type). It was expected that the new console would be announced on April 21st, but it’s now looking like May 24th. That would put it much closer to E3, which is speculated to have been the original plan. Keep in mind, this is all rumor for now, but here’s what we should supposedly expect:
- $500 MSRP, with $300 subscription version possible
- always-online rumors do seem correct, but may not be as intrusive as expected
- November release is likely
- a $99 “Stingray” 360 may be launching around the same time
- Stingray may mean Netflix, Hulu, backwards-compatibility, etc. may be out for Durango
But before you’ll be picking up your next XBox, there are still some games coming for your current 360. Like Grand Theft Auto V, which will also come with a bonus. If you preorder your copy from the Microsoft Store they’ll give 1600 MSP (a $20 value). The offer is limited to three per customer and is available in the US only. Your free points will be emailed to you within 10 days of the game shipping (September 17, 2013). The points will expire if unspent on December 31, 2013.
The long-rumored Batman: Arkham Origins has finally been officially announced – and is gracing the next cover of Game Informer. Oddly, it’s not actually developed by Rocksteady, the team that has made the series such a phenomenon. Instead, Warner Montreal is developing the title, which is expected to release this October for current-gen systems. The game will take place prior to Arkham Asylum, when the Batman was younger. The Game Informer cover reveals that Deathstroke will be featured as well. Also planned is Arkham Origins Blackgate for Vita, “a 2.5D exploration action game” this is “a completely separate experience that takes place after the events of Arkham Origins” for release on the same date.
Capcom has announced a two month delay for Lost Planet 3. Originally planned for June, it’s now coming in August for “business reasons.” Which is as vague as excuses come, but how much detail they want to reveal is their prerogative.
That’s all for this week’s early edition. Check back on Friday for more highlights from this week in gaming news.