In case you missed any of our full stories this week:
Aquaman was announced for Injustice: Gods Among Us.
We got more details on Star Trek: The Video Game.
Aliens: Colonial Marines is a giant turd!
In other news:
After the auction of THQ there were a few properties remaining with a questionable future. One of them that certainly would continue somewhere else was WWE. The sports entertainment franchise has long had a solid presence in the gaming world and it was clearly just a matter of time before it was assigned somewhere. Publishing duties have now been taken over by Take-Two. Development is still being handled by Yuke’s, who have developed the titles for over a decade.
With DMC: Devil May Cry coming out to generally positive reviews, it’s no surprise that they’re starting to talk downloadable content. The first add-on chapter will apparently be “Vergil’s Downfall.” In this expansion, Dante’s brother, Vergil, is sent to an alternate reality where he is stripped of some of his powers. The new dimension will have all new sets instead of reusing environments from the main game. Vergil will control similar to Dante. The expansion is set for this month with a price tag of $8.99, though it will be free for some preorder customers. Expect 3-5 hours of gameplay from this new chapter.
Bungie’s Destiny was officially revealed over the weekend but it was a little light on details. Despite expectations, Activision has confirmed that it will not be available this year. The official line is that it is not included in their “2013 outlook” and that “there should be no speculation or expectation of a different result.” So, 2014 it is then? Or 2015?
The music/rhythm genre was a hot commodity in the early days of this console generation, and you have to hand it to Harmonix for their dedication to DLC over the last five years. I’ve been impressed that they have continued to release weekly songs for the Rock Band franchise despite not having released a retail game since October 2010. With over 4,000 songs already available for download, you have to wonder if they’re running out of sales, or running out of content. The final songs will be released on April 2nd, and Harmonix will then refocus their efforts on “several new titles.” It’s been a great run and I’m a little sad to see it go, despite not having purchased any of the DLC for months, maybe longer.
Unfortunately for cash-strapped parents, you haven’t seen the last of Skylanders. Coming this Fall will be Skylanders Swap Force from Vicarious Visions (not the original developer, Toys for Bob). This version will require a new Portal of Power, but all previous Skylanders figures will cooperate. The 16 new figures will have separate tops and bottoms that can be interchanged (hence the “Swap” in “Swap Force”). That’s up to 256 different combinations (that’s in the announcement, I didn’t do the math). The various tops and bottoms will each have unique powers. Sounds like a fun, if expensive, addition to the franchise.
Zen Studios announced some upcoming Star Wars tables for Zen Pinball / Pinball FX2 a few weeks ago and we’ve finally learned the release date and other details. Three tables will be coming next week, though I think it’s an odd choice to star with Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. A Boba Fett and Clone Wars table are also coming with it. The three tables will be $9.99 / 800MSP when your store updates next week. Seven more tables in the franchise are planned. And yeah, they definitely had BSR! in mind when they made these.
There’s been plenty of speculation, rumor, misinformation, and whatnot regarding the PlayStation 4. We could report it all here, but the Sony Meeting is at 6PM EST today so why bother. We here at Big Shiny Robot! will be bringing as many of the facts as possible once they have been confirmed by Sony. Stay tuned tonight.