Welcome to the first of a weekly glance at some the digital comics and magazines I’ll be picking up around the web.

First up is Archie comics. Consistently delivering fun comics at great prices, they get at least one purchase from me a month.

Archie #628 Archie meets KISS part 2 is must read comic book fun.
https://comics.comixology.com/#/archie

DARK HORSE COMICS
The new android version of the DH reader doesn’t offer in app purchases yet but it’s very smooth and works perfectly on my new tablet. If you weren’t turned off by all the negative back and forth from DH and shop owners give it a shot.
Only one book you might want to pick up this week, I like to wait for the bundles which usually group 2 to 5 books together with a few dollars off.
STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE III EMPIRE LOST #3 (OF 6)
https://digital.darkhorse.com/

DC COMICS
If these darlings of the digital comic world weren’t ‘Drawing the line at $2.99’ I don’t think they’d be in the position they are now. It seems I’ve dropped a few books from the New 52 but I’ll give them all a try again around issue 6 when new creative teams kick in and give my reasons for staying or going.
AQUAMAN #4
FLASH #4
I VAMPIRE #4
VOODOO #4
https://read.dccomics.com/comixology/

IDW
I’m loving all the G.I. Joe craziness and I know nothing of this title so I’m going to jump in and see what happens.
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS #14 (is ridiculously priced at 3.99 so issue 13 will get the glance.)
https://comics.comixology.com/

IMAGE
HACK SLASH #11 Always awesome horror comic, jump in anywhere!
WITCH DOCTOR RESUSCITATION ONE SHOT If you missed the first 4 issues of my new favorite book check this out I’m sure it won’t disappoint. You can also get the issues 0-4 with bonus pages for only $5.99.
https://comics.comixology.com/#/image

Marvel
I see no reason in paying an extra dollar for a 23-25 page digital comic book. Marvel has priced their paper books reasonably but carrying the price over is absurd. Until this is fixed they won’t get much business from me.
FF #13 $2.99 and worth every penny.
http://www.comixology.com/Marvel/comics-publisher/2-0

That’s it this week. I have a hard time figuring out what’s going to be available digitally and where to find it. If you’ve got any tips feel free to drop me a line: ken at bigshinyrobot dot com

Press Release:

AVENGERS VS X-MEN Leads to The Can’t Miss Digital Comic 99 Cents Sale!

New York, NY—December 21, 2011—Not only is everyone talking about Avengers VS X-Men, the comic book event of 2012, but it’s also the holiday season—and that means it’s the perfect time for the most exciting digital comics sale ever! From December 21^st (at 12:01am EST) to December 30^th (at 11:00PM EST), experience the AVENGERS VS X-MEN: MAJOR PLAYERS sale on the Marvel Comics app , featuring some of the most important stories in comics history for only 99 cents per issue!

The world’s greatest super heroes—Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Wolverine and more—go to war with each other in 2012, but now’s your chance to learn all about the Avengers and the X-Men before the first punch is thrown!

Don’t miss a single issue of the Avengers VS X-Men Major Players Sale, including:

• Amazing Spider-Man #546-601
• Astonishing X-Men #1-24 and Astonishing X-Men Giant Size #1
• Captain America #1-24
• Invincible Iron Man #1-24
• New Avengers #1-25
• Thor #1-12, #600-603 and Thor Finale
• Wolverine: Weapon X #1-16

But remember, this is a limited time offer—it all ends on December 30^th! So fire up the Marvel Comics app right now to take advantage of the Avengers VS X-Men Major Players Sale!

Which team will reign supreme? Join the conversation on Twitter with #AvX!

For exclusive Avengers VS X-Men desktop wallpapers visit www.marvel.com

To find a comic shop near you, visit www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook.

Marvel has jumped into the prose game, hoping to attract readers back to comics.

It’s a sound plan. I know I’ve been able to rope people back in with stuff like Bill Willingham’s Peter and Max and Mike Stackpole’s In Hero Years… I’m Dead. They’re starting with a fantastic story: Civil War.

I’ll definitely be checking this out. I love comics, but I love prose, too.

New York, NY—December 20th, 2011—The world’s most popular super heroes can be found in the pages of Marvel Comics every week, but now their greatest stories are set to conquer the world of prose fiction! Launching in June 2012 with the adaptation of CIVILWAR, Marvel will release its most popular stories of all time as prose novels.

It all begins in CIVIL WAR, adapted by author Stuart Moore (Wolverine), with the story that irrevocably altered the Marvel Universe and redefined comic books for an entire generation. In the wake of a tragedy, Capitol Hill proposes the Superhuman Registration Act, requiring all costumed heroes to unmask themselves before the government. Divided, the nation’s greatest champions must each decide how to react — but will you side with Iron Man or Captain America? And just which heroes will pay the ultimate price?

“Releasing our most acclaimed graphic novels as prose fiction not only allows us to reach a different audience with these stories, but also gives us a chance to bring those readers back to the comics that started it all,” said David Gabriel, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marvel Entertainment. “CIVIL WAR is easily our best-selling graphic novel of the past decade and certainly one of the most influential in recent memory, so it was the perfect launch title for this new line. Not only will you get all the action that Mark Millar and Steve McNiven delivered in comic form but no fan will want to miss the new wrinkles we’ve added in this novel. ”

This will get them on more eReaders as well. If they format properly, they’ll even link directly to links of the digital graphic novels so people can check out the incredible comics version.

If nothing else, it’s great to see them trying something new to invigorate the medium.

Aaaah, Christmas week. Unless you work in retail or have some big year end project due this is probably a good time of year at work. Then again, it’s also a good time of year not to be at work. Seriously, I wonder how many readers are seeing this from home instead of while slacking at the office. I’m actually working my day job this week, but I took the next week off instead. The ratio of vacation time I have to take versus the consecutive days of sleeping in and drinking too much is just too good to pass up. Regardless, there is still a little news to report this week, so let’s get to it.

Remember Demons’ Souls? This was the game that was released in October 2009 and you rage quit in November because it was so hard. Then, for some reason you remembered how awesome it was so you bought Dark Souls and rage quit that one a month later too. Well, Atlus is hoping you kept that first disc around because they’ve temporarily made it easier. From now through January 2, 2012 you can participate in the Pure White World Event. The event makes the world of Boletaria slightly easier and unlocks new areas and items. I’m sure you’re backlogged on all the great Fall games, and you may get some new material for Christmas, but if you’ve been wanting to work on Demons’ Souls again this is a very good opportunity.

Square Enix has long been promising that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will have an extensive DLC plan after retail release (which has already happened in Japan, scheduled for January 31, 2012 in the U.S.). So far it doesn’t look that extensive. Based on the Japanese release scheduled announced at Jump Festa, the Omega DLC, featuring a robotic beast you can defeat and recruit to your own party, will be first. After that will be a costume pack giving Serah a pink bikini and Noel his Ezio get-up. All of this was previously known, so I would expect to see more DLC announcements in the coming weeks, with some big news coming on or around the full retail release in North America.

Are you on Twitter? Want to have your face in a game? Are you okay if that face gets torn apart in “bullet time?” If you answered yes to all of those questions, Rockstar can use you in Max Payne 3‘s multiplayer. Here’s how this works: Step 1 – Follow @RockstarGames on Twitter. Step 2 – Use #MaxPayne3 when Tweeting about the game (and do that a lot). Step 3 – Rockstar will pick ten random people each week and send them a direct message. Step 4 – Respond to your DM with a picture in 48 hours or less. (They’ll be selecting two finalists each week for a total of eight winners.) Step 5 – Use your face in multiplayer when the game releases in March. Step 6 – Have said face shot off! Of course, it is a contest, so it’s probably a lot more complicated than I make it sound. Check their website for full rules and details.

Are you still hunting down trophies in Batman: Arkham City and starting to itch for yet another new costume? Today brings good news. To celebrate the success of the game, and to thank fans for their support, Rocksteady is releasing a free Batman Inc. skin for use in the game. But, what if you haven’t finished the game yet? We all know you can’t change your skin until you’ve beaten the campaign. Right? Actually, no. Along with the new outfit the developer has announced a cheat code to allow new skins during the first play. To unlock this treat, go to the menu screen after selecting your save slot, enter Left, Left, Down, Down, Left, Left, Right, Up, Up, Down and listen for the tone. If you’ve done it correctly you’ll now have the option to change your Batskin.

Seems to be lots of DLC news today. This next one is kind of a downer though, especially compared to a free Batsuit. King of Fighters XIII‘s “Nests Kyo” DLC is being delayed until January 10th due to a technical error. Not one to suffer bad press lightly, Atlus is offering a temporary discount for the add-on (making it $2.99) when it does release. SNK Playmore is also hard at work on a patch to fix the game’s online service and will be releasing it as soon as possible.

Must be a good week for announcing delays to DLC for fighting fans. The Ancient Warrior pack for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is also delayed, for a much more ridiculous reason. Originally set for this week, the pack will be held back until March 6, 2012 to allow Capcom the time to remove one of the costumes. I’d certainly expect the $3.99 price tag to be cut along with Magneto’s House of M skin. Why on earth are they removing the costume? Apaprently it is too similar to the royal garb of King Juan Carlos of Spain. Really? Marvel introduced Captain America with a picture of him punching Hitler in the face. Now we’re afraid we’re going to offend the king of Spain because he shares a wardrobe designer with Magneto? The costumes are remarkably similar, but shouldn’t this be more Juan Carlos’ concern and not Marvel’s? After all, he’s the one dressing up like a comic book character to lead a nation. I suppose we should just be glad he’s not dressing up like Victor von Doom.

That’s it for today and this week’s early edition of Quick Hits. Check back Friday for more updates.

I love the John Carter series and one of the benefits of the movie coming out from Disney/Pixar next year is all of the ancillary stuff we’ll get.

Among these ancillary products is comics books.

Marvel announced last week the team they’ll be putting on the new series.

Here’s their press release:

Marvel is pleased to announce, that in collaboration with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, an all-new graphic fiction adaptation of the legendary John Carter novels with John Carter: The Gods Of Mars #1 hitting comic shops everywhere March 2012! From the creative team of rising stars Sam Humphries (Sacrifice) & Ramon Perez (Jim Henson’s Tale Of Sand), the heroic John Carter makes his return to Barsoom to not save it from Martian beasts…but Martian GODS! This new series, considered part of the official canon set by Burroughs, cannot be missed by fans of the series looking for added depth to the rich John Carter mythos.

“Gods of Mars is going to be a blast — tons of action and intrigue in a fantastic environment,” said Humphries. “From Landridge and Andrade to Edgar Rice Burroughs himself, there’s an impressive foundation of awesome John Carter stories to build on. Combined with Marvel having the most exciting comics going on right now, and most talented editors in the industry – I can’t wait to get myself to Mars.”

As our hero finds himself in the land of the dead, all hope looks lost. But nothing will stop John Carter from saving Mars from the terror of those looking to destroy it and this March, the next chapter of one of the greatest action stories ever told begins in John Carter: The Gods Of Mars #1!

During Spike TV’s Video Game Awards, quite a few games released their full length trailers. Among them was Activision and Beenox’s Amazing Spider-Man game. Check it out below:

Obviously not enough to really give us an idea of what gameplay will be like. Although it sounds like this will be a sandbox style game with lots of the web slinging we’ve come to enjoy. While not all video games based off of a movie are created equal, if you recall the video game for Spider-Man 2 is what started the free world web slinging. Which was pretty awesome. I can’t wait to see some more footage.

Via: Mtv

I don’t often post these, but Chris Yost is writing this book and he can do no wrong. From his work on all the great Marvel cartoons in recent years to his incredible run on Red Robin, he’s fast becoming one of my favorite writers in comics.

Here’s the info from the press release about Scarlet Spider.

Get ready for a new brand of web-slinging action in your first look at Scarlet Spider #1! From the red-hot creative team of Chris Yost & Ryan Stegman, Kaine – the all-new Scarlet Spider – finds himself on the run in Texas after saving New York City from becoming the world’s largest spider nest during Spider-Island. But when his escape is stopped by a super-powered crime syndicate, Kaine must put an end to their corruption the only way he knows how…violently.

“Scarlet Spider is a book that can deal with a character much like Peter Parker but at darker, more difficult place in his life,” said Stephen Wacker, Marvel Senior Editor. “The violent choices he’s made through years of struggle—the sins of youth, so to speak—have come at a brutal cost. He may hope that the things he’s done will be left to the dusty, yellowed pages of history, but someone ALWAYS remembers who you used to be.”

Redefining power & responsibility, no fan can miss the brutal debut of Scarlet Spider #1 hitting comic shops everywhere, this January.

SCARLET SPIDER #1 (NOV110519)
Written by CHRIS YOST
Pencils by RYAN STEGMAN
Colors by MARTE GRACIA
Cover by RYAN STEGMAN
FOC – 12/12/11, ON SALE – 1/4/12

A picture of a Pez dispenser has been circulating around, but the Marvel Movies page on facebook gave me my first real glimpse of the Lizard from the upcoming Spider-Man film.

I don’t know about this.

I’ll keep my mouth shut until I see the movie, but everything I’ve seen has been just sort of “meh.” The trailer didn’t feel like a Spider-Man movie to me at all. It felt like Peter Parker was trapped in a Batman movie and that’s not what Spider-Man is to me.

I’m neither here nor there on this particular picture. It could be cool in action.

Who knows?

The Amazing Spider-Man is scheduled hit theatres July 3rd, 2012. It stars Andrew Garfield, Rhys Ifans, and Emma Stone. Marc Webb is directing.

Everyone and their mother knows that when it comes to chicks in comic books and their portrayal in movies and TV, I’m your gal. So when I saw an article announcing that ABC has picked up a new Jessica Jones TV show, needless to say, I was a bit skeptical. After watching the train wreck known as Wonder Woman, and the nosedive-after-season-one show known as Heroes, I have little faith in ANY superhero show.  Especially one on network TV.

The show will be called AKA Jessica Jones, and will feature writer Melissa Rosenberg of the “Twilight” films. (Side note: having one of the “Twilight” writers on this show makes me even more nervous about it than I previously was). The show will be set in the current Marvel universe, and will feature characters such as Luke Cage (Power Man) and Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel). In an interview with HitFlix, Rosenberg explained some of the difficulty in writing the show saying, “It’s very tricky navigation there. You can’t mention one guy because Fox has the rights to that guy and Universal has the rights to the other one.  There are a lot of boundaries on who you can and can’t use. I had Jessica Jones and Luke Cage and Carol Danvers [for the pilot script].  Basically, I wanted those three guys — then I would have a series. Everyone else we can be digging into lesser known characters or taking known characters and renaming them”.

The show will be based on the comic book series Alias by Brian Michael Bendis. It will focus on Jessica giving up her superhero life to open a detective agency. In the series Jessica has a child with Luke Cage, so I’m just hoping that this doesn’t turn into a whole “Mom taking on the world” scenario.

When Rosenberg was asked about if she thought the failed Wonder Woman pilot could hurt the chances of AKA Jessica Jones being picked up by ABC, Rosenberg replied “Frankly, Jessica is so much darker than Wonder Woman,  If anything that would be the issue,” she said. “It’s fairly edgy and gritty than even the comic book.”. To that I say, just because it’s dark, doesn’t mean it’s going to be successful.

Kudos to Marvel for taking the initiative on this, and realizing that there may, in fact, be a market for women who like comics. However, if Wonder Woman, Heroes and The Cape have taught us anything, it’s that good ideas can get ruined very quickly. I think the biggest thing that AKA Jessica Jones has going for it is the fact that she’s not that well known to the public. It’s not like Wonder Woman where she’s their biggest female property, who’s been around for a million years. The fact that to the public there will be almost no name recognition, may play to their favor. We’ll just have to wait and see.

AKA Jessica Jones is slated to begin with the new spring line-up for ABC, and I will keep you posted on more details as they emerge.

I’ve got a pretty extensive editorial at the end today, so let’s jump straight in to the news:

Bethesda has announced a title update coming for Brink. It sounds like it’s offering a lot, but it doesn’t answer the most pertinent question. Why? The update brings clans and tournament structure to the online play. Which would be cool if not for a few obviously glaring flaws. One, this game was released in May. If this was something the game needed, is six months later really the best time to release it? Two, this game was released in May. No one plays it online anymore – mostly because it wasn’t that great from the beginning. Third, this was released in May! I actually saw this on a used bargain bin for $5.00 on Tuesday. Maybe that is the right time to release extra content, when you’re no longer making money on the title because it’s selling used for less than the price of a Happy Meal. Sorry, Bethesda, you’ve got better things to be doing.

Speaking of better things Bethesda could be doing, they’re also working on a patch for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. In response to an angry gamer, Pete Hines (PR and Marketing Boss) stated “Patches/updates take a little time. We can’t turn it around quite that fast. It’s been three days. Calm down, we’re working on it. “We are continuing to work on an update for all platforms to address… any bugs and perf[ormance] issues we can.” It appears there are very few players experiencing real game breaking bugs. At least nothing on the scale of what PS3 users suffered on Bethesda’s Fallout titles. The bugs most people seem to have are some texture issues and framerate lag. Which, while annoying, are pretty much par for the course on a game this size. Then again, if it’s something that can be patched smoothly, maybe they should have just hired Splash Damage to fix it pre-launch instead of having them waste time on a patch for Brink.

Oh yeah, I’m back to harping on Splash Damage. I was actually all set to change my tone and be a lot nicer to them because of a rumor about the developer working with Disney on a Marvel-themed title. That game could have been good, but Paul Wedgewood has been quick to squash this rumor. “We’re not working with Disney. We’re not building a pop culture IP. We’re only using BRINK tech for BRINK updates,” Wedgewood said. Kind of a shame. Brink isn’t that great, but if you skinned it with The Avengers it could have been something special.

But, rather than speculate about a Marvel game that may never be, let’s talk facts about DC Universe Online. The game switched to a free to play model on November 1st, and they’re now announcing the next expansion, “Lightning Strikes.” Following the successful introduction of Green Lantern and his powers in “Fight for the Light,” DC now wants to give lightning powers as they introduce The Flash. The expansion, planned for later this year has several additions. You’ll get a Central City map, The Flash Museum Duo (which lets you time travel to see Barry Allen’s origin), electricity powers, new gear inspired by Black Lightning and Professor Zoom, and a slew of new characters (including The Top, The Trickster, and others). If you currently have Legendary subscriber status this will be a free upgrade. Free or premium members will need to pay $9.99 (which will make you premium if you’re not already).

With Assassin’s Creed: Revelations releasing this week to thunderous applause, it’s now time to officially hear about its upcoming DLC. As mentioned last week, the trophy list exposed plans for at least four additional multiplayer characters and some additional maps. While Ubisoft has yet to comment on the maps, the four character DLC pack is planned for December 13th at $3.99.

If you’re more interested in DLC that’s already released, check the PSN Store for Uncharted 3‘s Killzone Pack. This pack includes Helghast Capture Trooper armor and a couple of extra helmets. Not bad for $1.49. Incidentally, if you’ve already opted for the Fortune Hunter’s Club (still available for $24.99) you’ll get this gear for free, despite it not being part of the planned package. In addition, you’ll get the rest of the planned DLC at a 45% discount. My real question is, how do you expect to blend in to these desert environments with such strange gear?

Sanzaru Games has a had a busy year, releasing the Sly Cooper HD Collection and announcing the fourth game in the series, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. Now they’re finally ready to start sharing some details. The fourth game picks up immediately after the events of the third game. Not only will Sly and the gang be traipsing around the timeline, they’ll be doing it alongside Sly’s ancestors. Many of these characters were introduced when Sly learned some of their abilities from the Thievius Raccoonus in the first game. In each episode Sly will meet with one of those venerable ancestors. As a player, not only will you learn more of the family history, you’ll also learn more of their abilities as you are able to play as each ancestor. The only reveal so far is Rioichi Cooper. Sly learned his Spire Jump from this Cooper, but that’s not the only trick he has up his sleeve. Not only did this raccoon invent sushi, he also invented a long distance Spire Jump variant known as the Leaping Dragon Technique. Sanzaru has promised more details in December’s issue of Game Informer. Oh yeah, did I mention this is in 3D?

On a very related note, Sanzaru Games President Glen Egan has also announced the Sly Cooper HD Collection is coming to PSN. The retail version is already available, and has been for some time. But if you’d rather just load these games up on your hard drive, you can do it on November 29th. The full collection will be $29.99, but you’ll also now have the option to purchase each game individually for $9.99 each. All three games will be in HD, 3D, and 60 frames per second with full trophy support.

As a die hard fan, I picked up the Fallout: New Vegas Collector’s Edition when it launched back in October 2010. That special edition came with a 48 page graphic novel, All Roads, introducing a few of the game’s key characters and served as a kind of prequel to the story. I’ve read better graphic novels, but that one wasn’t bad. Finally, more than a year later, this graphic novel is seeing a wider release. Dark Horse has released it digitally ($2.99 from their online store and iTunes) which will preserve the value of the limited run of print versions. If you’ve wanted to read the novel, or if you’d like a teaser as you hold out on the game to await the Ultimate Edition with all of the DLC to be released on February 7th, this is a good time to pick it up. Three bucks is pretty good for a 48 page comic written by Chris Avellone (the game’s creative director) with art by Jean Diaz and Wellington Alves.

If the online passes popping up everywhere have been bugging you, or preventing you from playing as Catwoman, take a look at the way THQ has done it mostly right. If you use that online pass that came with your PS3 version of Saints’ Row: The Third, you’ll get a free copy of Saints’ Row II. Why do I say this is doing it right? First, they aren’t charging you $10 for something that actually changes the narrative of the game (Batman: Arkham City). Second, they aren’t actually taking anything away from you at all just because you bought it used. Instead, they want to give you a gift worth about $20 just for buying their game new. The real beauty of this is that it might actually make your used copy more valuable if you decide to sell it. If you don’t want or need the bonus game, don’t activate your code. If you sell it to a third party before February, you might get a little extra incentive from them if they know the code is still good. Why only until February? That’s why I said “mostly right.” Much like the bonus digital copy of films you get when buying on blu-ray, the code is only good for a limited time. It also loses points for only being available in North America. I realize there’s a whole different set of laws to contend with around the world, but Europeans have as much option to choose new or used as I do, and this incentive should be there for them as well.

If you love 2D fighting, Capcom has a happy announcement for you. The PlayStation One version of a Capcom’s arcade classic is making its way to PSN. Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors is tentatively scheduled for November 29th. This is one of the greats from the mid-1990s, right alongside Super Street Fighter II Turbo. I have a lot of love for these characters, but mainly from their inclusion in Super Puzzle Fighter. The only better news we could get about this franchise is that a new one is coming in HD. Maybe if this re-release sells well….

Namco Bandai has announced four more characters for Soul Calibur V. Cervantes, Lizard Man, and Yoshimitsu are all returning favorites. New to the series is Xiba, a 16 year old with a white tiger tail. While he is a new addition, he certainly appears to be filling Kilik’s role.

In addition to the free, pre-order costume packs mentioned on Tuesday, there’s a whole pile of new skins coming for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Each pack will run $3.99, but you can score them all on March 6th with a $20 value pack. There are some great additions for Marvel nerds, including the Scarlet Spider and Planet Hulk. The Mega Man skin for Zero shown in the strategy guide is also included. I’ve got pictures of all of them, but I’m going to skip the three I already posted on Tuesday for the sake of brevity.

Rising Dead Pack (11/22/11)

Evil Twin Pack (12/6/11)

Ancient Warriors Pack (12/20/11)

Brawler Pack (1/10/12)

Femme Fatales, Villains, and New Age of Heroes Packs (1/17/12)
Animal Pack (1/24/12)

Weapon Expert Pack (2/7/12)

Viewtiful Strange Pack (2/21/12)

That’s the end of the week’s news, but allow me to editorialize a moment.

With the rumor mill flying, and several studios being named as working on dev kits, it’s really starting to look like the next generation of video game consoles will be announced very soon. Ubisoft and EA have basically confirmed that they are working with the next generation of XBox (be that 720, Project Ten, or something else entirely). Avalanche Studios recently announced a game they’re calling Project Mamba to be released in 2014 and is widely believed to be next gen. So, when can we expect them? We know the WiiU is hitting next year. PS Vita is coming in February. The industry prediction is that Microsoft’s next console will be released in 2012. Seeing as no official announcement has been made, I’d expect that to be near the end of the year, likely in the prime holiday shopping season. But what about PlayStation 4? Sony has been very tight-lipped, but the announcement of Gran Turismo 6 is a pretty big tell. After recently acquiring Sucker Punch, formalizing their already exclusive relationship, I would expect they’ve got something big up their sleeve with them. After all, Sly and inFAMOUS were both huge successes for the last two generations. Should we expect Sony to release in 2012 as well? Coming out a bit later seemed to hurt their early success this generation. But maybe Microsoft is seeing the PS3 install base growing and they’re now trying to head that off by releasing their new console before they had planned. Either way, we’ve hit the five year mark, the traditional life span of a console. Sony had planned a ten year life cycle for PS3, but no one seriously expected it to be the flagship device for that long. We’re also seeing enough advancements in PC gaming that a new console will be needed to keep pace sooner rather than later. This is definitely a story for us to watch. I foresee an announcement coming from Microsoft soon after Christmas, probably early January. I have lots of speculation, but I’m keeping it to myself for now. Feel free to ask me in person and I’ll probably share. I just don’t want to document anything yet.

See you next week.